Islamic State introduces fines for not knowing the Qur’an well enough
Not that this has anything to do with…
“Cash-strapped ISIS introduces new levies to compensate for loss of oil revenue, taxpayers,” RT, April 18, 2016:
The Islamic State terrorist group has lost about 30 percent of its revenues since last year due to bombings of oil sites and loss of taxpayers. It is trying to compensate by introducing new levies and taxes, a new IHS report said.
“In mid-2015, the Islamic State’s [IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL] overall monthly revenue was around $80m,” said Ludovico Carlino, senior analyst at IHS Conflict Monitor research group. “As of March 2016, the Islamic State’s monthly revenue dropped to $56m.”
READ MORE: Islamic State pulls in $80 mn a month – survey
Some of the drop was due to bombings of oil sites in IS-controlled areas by Russia and the US-led coalition, the report said. Its crude production dropped from 33,000 barrels a day to 21,000 barrels a day, but IHS warned that the terrorists could restore their capabilities quickly. The researchers estimate that about 43 percent of IS revenue comes from oil.
The other factor was loss of territory in Iraq and Syria. The report said IS lost about 22 percent of its territory in the past 15 months, which translates into a drop in the number of people ruled by the group from nine million to six million. With half of IS revenues coming from different forms of taxation, this shrinkage of its taxpayer base seriously affected its cash flow.