UNITED NATIONS, November 19 (Sputnik) — Terrorist organizations receive about $3 million dollars a day from oil sales, Russia's envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin stated Wednesday.
"The total daily income of terrorists from oil sales is three million dollars," Churkin said at the UN Security Council session.
The envoy added that "of particular cause for concern is the income of terrorists. One of the most important [income] items is the illegal trade of Syrian and Iraqi oil. In Syria, the jihadists exploit up to 10 oil fields. The volume of oil production by ISIL (Islamic State) reaches 30 thousand barrels a day."
According to Churkin, the Islamic State controls 14 oil fields and exports up to 50-60 million barrels per day in Iraq.
The envoy emphasized that, "[the] airstrikes by the United States and its allies on oil infrastructure captured by militants in Iraq and Syria have virtually no effect on the amount of illegal sales, they only… complicate life for the population in these areas."
The IS, a Sunni extremist group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories that had fallen under its control.
A US-led coalition is currently carrying out airstrikes against IS positions in Syria and Iraq.
