Bankrupt Terrorist Groups in Middle East Middle East

Bankrupt Terrorist Groups in Middle East

Middle East terrorist group list Name Region Location Name 1 Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) Middle East Palestinian Territories 11 Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades 2 Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) Middle East Palestinian Territories 12 Asbat an-Ansar 3 Hezbollah (Party of God) Middle East Lebanon 13 Al-Qaeda Kurdish Battalions 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kahane Chai Kongra-Gel (formerly Kurdistan Workers' Party) (KGK) Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) Islamic Jihad Group Location Palestinian Territories Lebanon Iraq Middle East Israel 14 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (formerly Al-Qaeda in Iraq aka Tanzim Worldwid Iraq Syria Libya Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn e Nigeria (QJBR)) Middle East Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria 15 Kata'ib Hezbollah Middle East Palestinian Territories 16 al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Middle East Palestinian Territories 17 Army of Islam (Palestinian)[10] Palestinian Territories 18 Abdullah Azzam Brigades Palestinian Territories 19 Al-Nusra Front Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia 20 Jaysh Rijal al-Tariq al Naqshabandi (JRTN) Popular Front for the Middle East Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) PFLP-General Command (PFLPMiddle East GC) 10 al-Qa’ida Region Middle East Worldwide Middle East Middle East Iraq Saudi Arabia Palestinian Territories Iraq Syria Iraq

6 ways to fund their operations 1 Scamming banks • Fraud • Illegal access to bank accounts and loans 2 • Selling antiques and artifacts Trade and smuggle antiques looted 3 4 Donations • From countries • From local communities/c harities • From individual supporter 5 6 Ransoms • Increased kidnappings across the world Taxation Oil • Continued occupy over oil reserves • Exportation and trade • Taxation over controlled territories

Islamic Jihad Group • A Palestinian Islamist terror organization formed in 1981 • Objective is the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of a sovereign, Islamic Palestinian state • Control dozens of religious organizations in the Palestinian territories that are registered as NGOs • Operates mosques, schools, and medical facilities that offer free services

Islamic Jihad Group finances its operations through funding from neighboring countries • Increased backing of funds from Iran • financial backing is believed to also come from Syria

Al-Qaeda – Brief Background • Sunni Islamist multi-national organization • Located in Afghanistan and Pakistan but have cells around the world • Founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden • Suicide attacks, simultaneous bombing of different targets • Goal – a complete break from foreign influences in Muslim countries and creation of new Caliphate • Management – “centralization of decision and decentralization of execution”

How Al Qaeda is funded • Ordinary Crime • Before the 9/11 attacks, the group amounted to $30 million annually • Tough to estimate their amount now because it works through smaller terror groups and cell • Associated Groups / Businesses / Wealthy Individuals • Strategize to infiltrate employees in charities to divert money away from legitimate humanitarian programs • Tough to shut these companies down even in cases where they have been proven of financing terrorism • Because of their international presence, they partake in national and international transactions with limited or no regulation in some countries • The organization is currently in the worst financial state it has been in recent years

How Al Qaeda moves their money • Cash couriers (limited amount - $1 million in $100 USD bills weighs over 20 pounds) • International Trade – very vulnerable due to size and complexity • New methods in information technology • Use Hawala – a legal trust-based informal banking system that transfers infinite amount of money in a single transaction • System for transferring money traditionally used in the Muslim world • The money is paid to an agent who then instructs a remote associate to pay the final recipient through a transaction code • 0. 5 – 2. 5% charge on each transaction

ISIS – A Brief Background • Seeds in the de-Baathification of Iraq’s civil and military services in 2003 • Left hundreds of thousands of Sunni Muslims with no jobs (and weapons) • US government established a democratic Shiite government in its wake • al Qaeda decided to capitalize on this anger and establish al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) • 2007 US Surge in Iraq defeated and pushed out AQI into Syria • 2011 The Arab Spring and Uprising against the Syrian Regime • Took advantage of this vacuum and AQI became the first rebel group to capture major cities (Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor) • Renamed itself ISIS and separated entirely from al Qaeda • 2014 Captured Mosul in Iraq and expanded its reign into both countries

How is Isis Funded? • David Cohen, the Treasury Department's Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, described the Islamic State last October as "probably the best-funded terrorist organization we have confronted. " $2 Billion in Assets • At first ISIS was seed funding from wealthy individuals and charities across the Middle East • Now, the Islamic State has used its control over a territory that is roughly the size of the U. K. and home to millions of people to develop diversified revenue channels • proceeds from the occupation of territory (including control of banks, oil and gas reservoirs, taxation, extortion, and robbery of economic assets) • kidnapping for ransom[1] • material support provided by foreign fighters • Illegal Drug trade (roughly 1 billion annually) • fundraising through social media[

What can we do as Business Professionals? Increased backing of funds from Iran