ISIS must keep expanding to survive, financial report says
International investigators said Friday that in order for ISIS to remain financially viable it would have to further expand territory it controls in Iraq and Syria and take over more resources, Reuters reported.
The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said in a report that the Islamist group's need for large amounts of money to govern areas it has conquered meant it was uncertain how long it could finance its current level of activity.
"In order to maintain its financial management and expenditures in areas where it operates, [ISIS] must be able to seize additional territory in order to exploit resources," it said.
The task force, which is made up of government officials from around the world who are combatting money laundering, noted that the group had generated large amounts of money by appropriating oil fields and from criminal activity such as theft and extortion.
"Cutting off these vast revenue streams is both a challenge and opportunity for the global community to defeat this terrorist organization," the report said.
The report said airstrikes by the United States and its allies against ISIS' oil facilities as well as falling oil prices and the group's own need for refined oil products had "significantly diminished" its revenues.