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In terms of their annual operating budgets to the best of our knowledge at this time, the Taliban, Hezbollah, the FARC, Hamas, and al-Shabaab may be the wealthiest terrorist organizations in the world today. Al Qaeda trails, but if all its affiliated organizations are included, Al Qaeda remains in the upper echelon of the world’s terror budgets.
1. Taliban
Taliban nets between $70 and $400 million from drug activity (of which at least $15 to $25 million is collected as ushr, Islam’s 10 percent tax on harvests) annually. In addition, the Taliban collects an estimated $150 to $200 million per year in zakat and sadaqa donations, mostly from the Arab nations of the Persian Gulf. These figures exclude extensive Taliban revenues from ransoms, extortion, and improperly diverted money from Western aid, U.N. contributions, defense contractors, and the Afghanistan government itself. My own estimate would place that subtotal of an additional $50 million per year.
Splitting the difference for the estimated range of revenues, that would bring the Taliban’s total budget to an estimate of approximately $560 million annually.
2. Hezbollah
Rachel Ehrenfeld’s Funding Evil documented that Hezbollah’s annual operating budget is between $200 and $500 million. Iran provides at least $120 million of that, with the rest coming from khums, drug trafficking, and other criminal activity.
3. FARC
Columbia’s Marxist guerrillas, the FARC, enjoy annual revenues that range from estimates of $80 to $350 million.
4. Hamas
For 2010, Gaza’s budget adopted by Hamas was $540 million, but that’s a larger amount than Hamas’s own budget. The Council on Foreign Relationslists Hamas’s budget as $70 million. However, the recent news that Iran is cutting or ending its aid to Hamas which would substantially diminish Hamas’s treasury. Hamas receives significant funding through charitable front groups and from Saudi Arabia.
5. Al Shabaab
A recent report from the U.N. revealed that al-Shabaab’s revenues are between $70 and $100 million per year, propelling it into the top tier of global jihadist funding.
DISHONORABLE MENTIONS
Al Qaeda
The CIA estimated that before 9/11, al Qaeda’s annual budget was $30 million, which was almost exclusively from “donations” (zakat and sadaqa). By almost all accounts, al Qaeda’s financial situation has deteriorated since then. Other estimates place their budget from $16 to $50 million, which still puts al Qaeda itself toward the bottom of the list. However, there are indications that revenue collections of al Qaeda offshoots such as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and al-Shabaab are flush with funds. With AQIM in particular, the evidence showsthat funds are being transferred from the regional organization back to the parent al Qaeda organization itself.
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Reuters calls Lashkar-e-Taiba (whose revenues include hawala, the Gulf, and Pakistan’s ISI) “one of the largest and best-funded Islamic militant organizations” in South Asia.
It bears repeating that much of the revenue listed above, with the exception of the FARC’s drug money, originate from traditional Islamic revenue sources such as zakat, sadaqa, khums, and ushr, rather than from “secular,” criminal activity.
These were the Rankings before ISIS
After stealing $425 million, ISIS is being called the 'world's richest terrorist group'
Iraq appears to be crumbling into a possible civil war, and sadly, after what occurred in Mosul on Wednesday, things may only get worse. Severe gunmen, who were a part of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), robbed Mosul’s central bank during Wednesday’s chaos, reportedly leaving with 500 billion Iraqi dinars, the equivalent to $425 million.
It is also being reported by the International Business Times that this radical organization stole millions from several other banks across Mosul and also a “large quantity of gold bullion.” The publication declared ISIS the “World’s Richest Terror Force.”
If ISIS is being referred to as the “World’s Richest Terror Force” or the “World’s Richest Terrorist group, let’s compare their finances to that of the Taliban, who reportedly had a one-time annual operating budget of somewhere between $70 million and $400 million. Additionally, Al-Qaeda possessed a $30 million operating budget at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The money that ISIS now has makes it wealthier than many small nations, including Nauru, Tonga, and the Marshall Islands.
According to regional analyst Brown Moses, “With $425 million, ISIS could pay 60,000 fighters around $600 a month for a year.” The intelligence consultancy Soufan Group states that ISIS has already attracted 12,000 militants from abroad , 3,000 of whom are from the West.
“Iraq is undergoing a difficult stage,” said Iraq Prime Minster Nouri al-Maliki, who called a national state emergency. He urges all members of the government “to confront this vicious attack, which will spare no Iraqi.”
Unfortunately, Iraqi forces already seem defeated.
“We can’t beat them,” an Iraqi officer was quoted saying, regarding ISIS. “They’re trained in street fighting and we’re not. We need a whole army to drive them out of Mosul. They’re like ghosts; they appear to hit and disappear within seconds.”
The world’s 5 richest terrorist groups | Money Jihad
ISIS Just Became the World's Richest Terrorist Group
Video: Iraq crisis: The rise of Isis, the 'world's richest terror group' in 60 seconds - Telegraph
1. Taliban
Taliban nets between $70 and $400 million from drug activity (of which at least $15 to $25 million is collected as ushr, Islam’s 10 percent tax on harvests) annually. In addition, the Taliban collects an estimated $150 to $200 million per year in zakat and sadaqa donations, mostly from the Arab nations of the Persian Gulf. These figures exclude extensive Taliban revenues from ransoms, extortion, and improperly diverted money from Western aid, U.N. contributions, defense contractors, and the Afghanistan government itself. My own estimate would place that subtotal of an additional $50 million per year.
Splitting the difference for the estimated range of revenues, that would bring the Taliban’s total budget to an estimate of approximately $560 million annually.
2. Hezbollah
Rachel Ehrenfeld’s Funding Evil documented that Hezbollah’s annual operating budget is between $200 and $500 million. Iran provides at least $120 million of that, with the rest coming from khums, drug trafficking, and other criminal activity.
3. FARC
Columbia’s Marxist guerrillas, the FARC, enjoy annual revenues that range from estimates of $80 to $350 million.
4. Hamas
For 2010, Gaza’s budget adopted by Hamas was $540 million, but that’s a larger amount than Hamas’s own budget. The Council on Foreign Relationslists Hamas’s budget as $70 million. However, the recent news that Iran is cutting or ending its aid to Hamas which would substantially diminish Hamas’s treasury. Hamas receives significant funding through charitable front groups and from Saudi Arabia.
5. Al Shabaab
A recent report from the U.N. revealed that al-Shabaab’s revenues are between $70 and $100 million per year, propelling it into the top tier of global jihadist funding.
DISHONORABLE MENTIONS
Al Qaeda
The CIA estimated that before 9/11, al Qaeda’s annual budget was $30 million, which was almost exclusively from “donations” (zakat and sadaqa). By almost all accounts, al Qaeda’s financial situation has deteriorated since then. Other estimates place their budget from $16 to $50 million, which still puts al Qaeda itself toward the bottom of the list. However, there are indications that revenue collections of al Qaeda offshoots such as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and al-Shabaab are flush with funds. With AQIM in particular, the evidence showsthat funds are being transferred from the regional organization back to the parent al Qaeda organization itself.
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Reuters calls Lashkar-e-Taiba (whose revenues include hawala, the Gulf, and Pakistan’s ISI) “one of the largest and best-funded Islamic militant organizations” in South Asia.
It bears repeating that much of the revenue listed above, with the exception of the FARC’s drug money, originate from traditional Islamic revenue sources such as zakat, sadaqa, khums, and ushr, rather than from “secular,” criminal activity.
These were the Rankings before ISIS
After stealing $425 million, ISIS is being called the 'world's richest terrorist group'
Iraq appears to be crumbling into a possible civil war, and sadly, after what occurred in Mosul on Wednesday, things may only get worse. Severe gunmen, who were a part of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), robbed Mosul’s central bank during Wednesday’s chaos, reportedly leaving with 500 billion Iraqi dinars, the equivalent to $425 million.
It is also being reported by the International Business Times that this radical organization stole millions from several other banks across Mosul and also a “large quantity of gold bullion.” The publication declared ISIS the “World’s Richest Terror Force.”
If ISIS is being referred to as the “World’s Richest Terror Force” or the “World’s Richest Terrorist group, let’s compare their finances to that of the Taliban, who reportedly had a one-time annual operating budget of somewhere between $70 million and $400 million. Additionally, Al-Qaeda possessed a $30 million operating budget at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The money that ISIS now has makes it wealthier than many small nations, including Nauru, Tonga, and the Marshall Islands.
According to regional analyst Brown Moses, “With $425 million, ISIS could pay 60,000 fighters around $600 a month for a year.” The intelligence consultancy Soufan Group states that ISIS has already attracted 12,000 militants from abroad , 3,000 of whom are from the West.
“Iraq is undergoing a difficult stage,” said Iraq Prime Minster Nouri al-Maliki, who called a national state emergency. He urges all members of the government “to confront this vicious attack, which will spare no Iraqi.”
Unfortunately, Iraqi forces already seem defeated.
“We can’t beat them,” an Iraqi officer was quoted saying, regarding ISIS. “They’re trained in street fighting and we’re not. We need a whole army to drive them out of Mosul. They’re like ghosts; they appear to hit and disappear within seconds.”
The world’s 5 richest terrorist groups | Money Jihad
ISIS Just Became the World's Richest Terrorist Group
Video: Iraq crisis: The rise of Isis, the 'world's richest terror group' in 60 seconds - Telegraph
