“Possibly the most worrying aspect of ISIS’s operational potential comes from its unprecedented wealth. According to files seized by Iraqi intelligence before the attack on Mosul, ISIS had £515 million in cash and assets. While it appears the seizure of funds from Mosul may have been initially overstated, it still would have resulted in tens of millions of pounds being taken.

ISIS has achieved this wealth mostly via captured oil facilities in Syria, the sale of rare antiquities seized in the conflict and in levying taxes on individuals and businesses in the regions it controls. In addition to this, it has also been funded by individuals in Kuwait, who appear to be supporting a variety of jihadist groups operating in Syria currently.”

Explore more quotes:


About the author

This page was created by our editorial team. Each page is manually curated, researched, collected, and issued by our staff writers. Quotes contained on this page have been double checked for their citations, their accuracy and the impact it will have on our readers.

Kelly Peacock is an accomplished poet and social media expert based in Brooklyn, New York. Kelly has a Bachelor's degree in creative writing from Farieligh Dickinson University and has contributed to many literary and cultural publications. Kelly assists on a wide variety of quote inputting and social media functions for Quote Catalog. Visit her personal website here.

Kendra Syrdal is a writer, editor, partner, and senior publisher for The Thought & Expression Company. Over the last few years she has been personally responsible for writing, editing, and producing over 30+ million pageviews on Thought Catalog.