Special to WorldTribune.com
The U.S.-led coalition bombed ten Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) cash depots this past weekend, incinerating hundreds of millions in currency.
Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for the American-led campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria, said the targeting of ISIL’s cash hoards is having an impact on the terror group’s cash flow as reports say ISIL has had to cut salaries paid to its jihadists, sometimes by as much as half.
“So this to us is a very significant indicator that these strikes against their ability to generate revenue are beginning to squeeze them a little bit,” Warren said, according to AFP.
“We don’t have a hard number that we’re prepared to release. We believe it is in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” Warren was quoted by AFP as having told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Baghdad.
“Obviously it is impossible to burn up every single bill. So presumably they were able to collect a little bit of it back. But we believe it was a significant series of strikes that have put a real dent in their wallet.”
Coalition air strikes in January destroyed millions in ISIL cash in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
ISIL fighters take pay cut: New air strikes incinerate hundreds of millions in cash added by Editor One on
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