OIR report says ISIS sends funds to Hawl Camp via mediators in Turkey
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The fourth quarter report of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) to the United States Congress said the Islamic State (ISIS) transferred funds to individuals at the Hawl Camp in northeastern Syria through intermediaries in Turkey.
The group “transferred funds—up to $20,000 per month each—to individuals at al-Hol through intermediaries in Türkiye via the hawala system, and via cash transfer apps and cryptocurrency,” the report said.
Hawl Camp is home to approximately 55,000 individuals, comprising 2,423 families with connections to Islamic State (ISIS) militants originating from around 60 countries.
The report pointed out ISIS keeps using “informal cash transfer networks, known as hawalas, to distribute cash throughout Iraq and Syria. ISIS is also increasingly using virtual assets for international funds transfers, in order to support militant operations, recruit and maintain loyal supporters, and secure the release of its members from detention.”
Additionally, ISIS uses millions of dollars “in cash reserves it has held since late 2022 in buried physical caches that it digs up and smuggles across Iraq and Syria,” the report added.
Moreover, the group also secures funding through extortion and kidnapping for ransom, in addition to “soliciting of donations via online platforms.”
The report also stressed that ISIS revenue “continued to decline due to Coalition and law enforcement actions targeting ISIS leaders and financial reserves and disrupting its financial facilitation networks in the Middle East,” adding the group poses little threat to Coalition forces and U.S. interests but remains “a potentially destabilizing influence and its resurgence cannot be ruled out.”