Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations has accused Islamic State terrorists of funding their operations with online casinos.
The ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that recent military efforts aimed at resources previously controlled by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has left its members looking online for additional revenue.
“As a result of successful operations of the Syrian Armed Forces that enjoy the support of the Aerospace Force of the Russian Federation, [the Islamic State] has lost access to the vital oil and gas deposits and to the channels for their transportation and sales,” Mr. Nebenzya said, Russian media reported.
“In these conditions, the [the Islamic State] has plunged into a frantic search for new sources of subsistence,” Mr. Nebenzya said, according to TASS, a state-owned newswire. “They’re refining their skills in the utilization of up-to-date technologies. For instance, accomplices of the terrorists steal the monies of innocent civilians through internet shops in one of the countries neighboring Syria.
“Caliphate fighters are not shying away from seeking revenue from online casinos,” Mr. Nebenzya said, The Moscow Times translated.
The Islamic State generated as much as $500 million from oil and oil products in 2015, earning terrorists an average of over $40 million each month in related revenue, the U.N. Security Council concluded previously.
Russia, the U.S. and their allies have continued to target Islamic State and the area under its control ever since, however, and as of late 2017 the group was earning only about $3 million each month in the Middle East, including roughly $2 million from its oil and gas deposits, Mr. Nebenzya said.
On Friday, the U.S. Treasury added the names of three alleged Islamic State facilitators to its sanctions list in a bid to curb the group’s funding. Abdulpatta Escalon Abubakar of the Philippines, Yunus Emre Sakarya of Turkey and Mohamed Mire Ali Yusuf of Somalia each provided financial, material or technological support for the Islamic State worthy of being added to the Treasury’s blacklist, the Trump administration said.
Both U.S. and Russia have designated the Islamic State as a terrorist organization. The Justice Department has repeatedly brought charges against individuals accused of funding the group, including Zoobia Shahnaz, a Long Island, New York, woman arrested in December after allegedly trying to send tens of thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin to Islamic State operatives.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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