WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US-led coalition against Daesh has decreased the terrorist group’s oil production by some 30 percent as well as destroyed millions of dollars of the terrorists, the Small Group of the Global Coalition’s members stated in a joint statement after their meeting in Kuwait on Wednesday.
“Daesh continues to be degraded in other significant ways. It has been losing its leaders at a high rate and has lost large numbers of fighters,” the statement said. “Its resource base is drying up as Coalition strikes have lowered Daesh oil production by at least 30 percent and destroyed millions of dollars stored in bank vaults and other locations.”
The group explained that as a result of the worsened financial situation, Daesh has relied on making revenue through taxation, imposition of rents and sale of confiscated property.
“Fighter pay has been cut by half in some areas, and desertions are increasing. Daesh is resorting to conscription to fill its ranks, recruiting children to conduct suicide attacks and is less able to mount offensive operations,” the statement added.
Daesh controls large areas in Iraq and in neighboring Syria. The terrorist group, which is banned in Russia and the United States, among others, relies heavily on revenues derived from the black-market sale of smuggled crude oil, drugs and human trafficking.
