EXCLUSIVE: Islamic State sold oil to Syrian regime and Turkey, commander says

[Disir]

QAMISHLO (Kurdistan 24) – A senior Islamic State (IS) commander in a Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) jail on Sunday claimed IS sold gas and oil to the Syrian regime and Turkey during its rule over the past three years in Syria and Iraq.

In an exclusive interview with Kurdistan 24, Razeek Radeek Maksimo, an Azerbaijani IS senior commander, shared stories of his time with IS before his arrest by the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Maksimo at first claimed he was only responsible for a number of checkpoints, but according to information obtained from the Kurdish authorities in northern Syria, he was a senior commander and head of one of IS’ strategic institutions in Raqqa.

He held the same position in Mayadeen city in the Deir Ezzor governorate in eastern Syria.

“News of the [IS] caliphate spread widely through media all over the world, and most of our people entered Syria [guided] through phone communication,” he said.

“I contacted a friend of mine and traveled to Istanbul [Turkey] and then to Syria that same day,” he said.

Maksimo refused to specify how, when, and where he was arrested.

He did, however, talk about trade IS took part in and the “injustice” he suffered once caught trying to flee.

He said he was seized by the Hisbah, the jihadist group’s specialized security apparatus after they began suspecting he was planning to run away.

“People under the Islamic State’s rule suffered a lot of injustices and oppression. This is why I planned to flee, but I failed,” he said.

“People who were planning to flee recently are being killed as well,” he noted.
EXCLUSIVE: Islamic State sold oil to Syrian regime and Turkey, commander says

His head is still attached. Lot's of injustice.

 

[BlackFlag]

I'm sure Trump will discuss this during his lovefest with Putin in a couple weeks

 

[depotoo]

That has been happening for quite a few years. They started it while Obama was in office.

 

[Bleipriester]

As for Syria - possible. Sad to have to buy your own oil from a western made terror group but at some point you have no choice. That does not apply for Turkey. Turkey did not only buy the oil from ISIS cheap, it was a transit country for IS oil heading to the EU.

"The Ambassador for the European Union (EU) in Iraq, Jana Hybaskova, admitted last week that several EU member states have bought oil from the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist organization that has been brutally conquering large portions of Iraq and Syria.

Hybaskova made the revelation at the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, but refused to divulge the names of the countries despite being asked numerous times, reports the Turkish Daily Sabah.

In addition to its implementation of brutal Islamic law, including numerous public executions, IS in late June captured Iraq's largest oil refinery factory, days later in early July capturing thelargest oil field in Syria, and another Syrian oil field a few days after that.

The US is leading a western effort to aid Iraqi government and Kurdish forces in rolling back IS's gains - with some effect - but the various seizures of infrastructure and resources have led IS to be assessed as the "world's richest terrorist organization," and with EU states aiding it by buying IS oil, that economic power fueling the jihadist group seems only likely to grow further.

Regarding IS's ability to export its captured oil stores, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Sources Taner Yildiz rejected claims his state was importing IS oil on July 31, shortly after the UN threatened sanctions on states purchasing or transporting IS oil.

According to security estimates IS has hundreds of foreign jihadists in its ranks, including many from Western nations. The terror group has been actively recruiting from the West, through such means as flashy propaganda videos in German and English - a phenomenon that has western government nervous over the possibility that recruits could return home to carry out terrorist attacks."

Supporting Terror: EU States Buying Islamic State Oil