The US government has announced sanctions against 25 people and five groups linked to the Islamic State, revealing a sprawling international organization in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
"The sanctions are aimed at interrupting the financial, logistic and recruitment activities of the Islamic State. Actions that cannot be interrupted with air raids because the subjects near the terrorist organization reside outside the theaters of war ”.
The State Department has identified foreign terrorist organizations linked to the Islamic State in the Russian Caucasus region, in Algeria, Indonesia and on the Egyptian peninsula of Sinai. Among the people designated as terrorists also two British, three French and one Russian.
Russia, France and other countries - stressed by the US State Department - collaborated in providing information that contributed to the identification of the subjects.
The Treasury Department has also raised financial sanctions for several Islamic state officials operating in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen and Tunisia. Some of these individuals are believed to be close to al-Qaeda and have previously been reached by high sanctions by the United Nations.
Financial institutions around the world are keen to honor US sanctions in particular. Under US law, anyone in the world who supports terrorist organizations can be prosecuted. We know that much of the income of the Islamic State is generated internally: oil, taxes, extortion and the black market of art.
The sanctions exclude a certain circuit, but illegal networks are so vast that it is not clear how effective these measures will be.
An alarming fact is also emerging. According to the Treasury Department, the Islamic State earns from the sale of oil up to 500 million dollars a year alone. Revenue (we are only talking about oil revenues) which would be sufficient on their own to guarantee the entire asset of the caliphate as a payroll, estimated at 360 million dollars a year.
According to the United States, finally, despite the hostilities, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State cooperate under a tactical profile.
