The records show that the Islamic State

ISIS members captured by the FSA have claimed that they were directed to commit attacks by Syrian government operatives.

Rand Paul, the junior Senator from Kentucky, accused the US government of allying with ISIL in the Syrian Civil War by arming their allies and fighting their enemies in that country.⁵¹⁹⁵²⁰   LENOVO AEQA1STU010 laptop keyboard

Abu Yusaf, a commander of the ISIL, said in August 2014 that many of the Free Syrian Army members who had been trained by United States' and Turkish and Arab military officers were now actually joining ISIL.⁵²¹ In September 2014, some US-backed Syrian rebels and ISIL signed a "non-aggression" agreement.A UN report estimated a total of 15,000 fighters from over 80 countries in ISIL's ranks as of November 2014.⁵² Lenovo 3000 G530 4151 laptop keyboard

⁴ US intelligence estimated an increase to around 20,000 foreign fighters in February 2015, including 3,400 from Western countries.Statistics gathered by nation indicate up to: 3,000 from Tunisia,⁵²⁶⁵²⁷ 2,500 from Saudi Arabia,⁵²⁶⁵²⁷ 1,700 from Russia,⁵²⁸1,500 from Jordan,⁵²⁷ 1,500 from Morocco,⁵²⁷ 1,200 from France,⁵²⁷ 1,000 from Turkey,⁵²⁹ 900 from Lebanon,⁵²⁷COMPAQ Presario CQ40-133TU laptop keyboard

650 from Germany,⁵³⁰ 600 from the United Kingdom,⁵²⁶⁵²⁷ 600 from Libya,⁵²⁷ 500 from Uzbekistan,⁵²⁷ 500 from Pakistan,⁵²⁷ 440 from Belgium,⁵²⁷ 360 from Turkmenistan,⁵²⁷ 360 from Egypt,⁵²⁷ 350 from Serbia,⁵³¹ 330 from Bosnia,⁵²⁷ 300 from China,⁵³² 300 from Kosovo,⁵³³ 300 from Sweden,⁵³⁴ 250 from Australia,⁵³⁵ 250 from Kazakhstan,⁵²⁷ Lenovo 3000 Y500 laptop keyboard

250 from the Netherlands,⁵²⁷ 200 from Austria,⁵³⁶ 200 from Algeria,⁵²⁷ 190 from Tajikistan,⁵²⁷ 180 from the United States,⁵²⁵ 150 from Norway,⁵³⁷ 150 from Denmark,⁵²⁷ 140 from Albania,⁵³¹ 130 from Canada,⁵³⁸ 120 from Israel/Palestine,⁵²⁷ 110 from Yemen,⁵²⁷ 100 from Sudan,⁵²⁷ 100 from Kyrgyzstan,⁵²⁷ 100 from Spain,⁵³⁹ 80 from Italy,⁵²⁷ HP Mini 110-3519la laptop keyboard

70 from Somalia,⁵²⁷ 70 from Kuwait,⁵²⁷ 70 from Finland,⁵²⁷ 50 from Ukraine,⁵²⁷ 40 from Switzerland,⁵²⁷ 30 from Ireland,⁵²⁷ and 18 from India.ISIL relies mostly on captured weapons. Major sources are Saddam Hussein's Iraqi stockpiles from the 2003–11 Iraq insurgency⁵⁴¹ and weapons from government and opposition forces fighting in the Syrian Civil War and during the post-US withdrawal Iraqi insurgency. HP COMPAQ 486654-001 laptop keyboard

The captured weapons, including armour, guns, surface-to-air missiles, and even some aircraft, enabled rapid territorial growth and facilitated the capture of additional equipment.

The group has a long history of using truck and car bombs, suicide bombers, and IEDs, and has used chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria. TOSHIBA Satellite L755-S5357 laptop keyboard

ISIL captured nuclear materials from Mosul University in July 2014, but is unlikely to be able to turn them into weapons.ISIL is known for its extensive and effective use of propaganda.⁵⁴⁵⁵⁴⁶ It uses a version of the Muslim Black Standard flag and developed an emblem which has clear symbolic meaning in the Muslim world.⁵⁴⁷SONY N860-7676-T101 laptop keyboard

In November 2006, shortly after the group's rebranding as the "Islamic State of Iraq", the group established the al-Furqan Institute for Media Production, which produces CDs, DVDs, posters, pamphlets, and web-related propaganda products.⁵⁴⁸ ISIL's main media outlet is the I'tisaam Media Foundation,⁵⁴⁹ which was formed in March 2013 and distributes through the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF).⁵⁵⁰ DELL E141395 laptop keyboard

When ISIL announced it's expansion to other countries in November 2014 it established media departments for the new branches, and it's media apparatus ensured that the new branches follow the same models it uses in Iraq and Syria.In 2014, ISIL established the al-Hayat Media Centre, which targets a Western audience and produces material in English, German, Russian and French.⁵HP 518965-001 laptop keyboard

Also in 2014, ISIL launched the Ajnad Media Foundation, which releases jihadist audio chants.⁵⁵⁴ In December 2014, FBI Director James Comey stated that ISIL's "propaganda is unusually slick. They are broadcasting... in something like 23 languages".From July 2014, al-Hayat began publishing a digital magazine called Dabiq, in a number of different languages including English. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 laptop keyboard

According to the magazine, its name is taken from the town of Dabiq in northern Syria, which is mentioned in a hadith aboutArmageddon.ISIL's use of social media has been described by one expert as "probably more sophisticated than that of most US companies".⁵⁴⁵⁵⁵⁷ It regularly takes advantage of social media, particularly Twitter, to distribute its message by organising hashtag campaigns, encouraging Tweets on popular hashtags, LENOVO IdeaPad S10 20015 laptop keyboard

and utilising software applications that enable ISIL propaganda to be distributed automatically via its supporters' accounts.⁵⁵⁸⁵⁵⁹ Another comment is that "ISIS puts more emphasis on social media than other jihadi groups... They have a very coordinated social media presence."⁵⁶⁰ In August 2014, Twitter administrators shut down a number of accounts associated with ISIL. DELL Inspiron N4050 laptop keyboard

ISIL recreated and publicised new accounts the next day, which were also shut down by Twitter administrators.⁵⁶¹ The group has attempted to branch out into alternative social media sites, such as Quitter, Friendica and Diaspora; Quitter and Friendica, however, almost immediately worked to remove ISIL's presence from their sites.⁵⁶²HP Mini 1151NR laptop keyboard

In a switch from its former practices, ISIL's media arm imposed a social media blackout on 27 September 2014, fearing that tweets and posts would give away military positions.⁵⁶³ ISIL has also attempted to present a more "rational argument" in its series of "press release/discussions" performed by hostage/captive John Cantlie and posted on YouTube.  SONY KFRMBA220A laptop keyboard

In one "Cantlie presentation", various current and former US officials were quoted, such as US PresidentBarack Obama and former CIA Officer Michael Scheuer.

In 2014, the RAND Corporation carried out a study of 200 documents — personal letters, expense reports and membership rosters — which had been captured fromIslamic State of Iraq (al-Qaeda in Iraq).⁵⁶⁵ HP Pavilion DV7-3078nr laptop keyboard

It found that from 2005 until 2010, outside donations amounted to only 5% of the group's operating budgets, with the rest being raised within Iraq.⁵⁶⁵ In the time period studied, cells were required to send up to 20% of the income generated from kidnapping, extortion rackets and other activities to the next level of the group's leadership. Higher-ranking commanders would then redistribute the funds to provincial or local cells that were in difficulties or needed money to conduct attacks.⁵⁶Toshiba Satellite L550-20W CPU Fan

⁵ The records show that the Islamic State of Iraq was dependent on members from Mosul for cash, which the leadership used to provide additional funds to struggling militants in Diyala, Salahuddin and Baghdad.⁵⁶⁵

In mid-2014, Iraqi intelligence obtained information from an ISIL operative which revealed that the organisation had assets worth US$2 billion,⁵⁶⁶ making it the richest jihadist group in the world.⁵⁶⁷ SONY Vaio VPC-EB3E1R/BQ CPU Fan

About three-quarters of this sum is said to be represented by assets seized after the group captured Mosul in June 2014; this includes possibly up to US$429 million looted from Mosul's central bank, along with additional millions and a large quantity of gold bullion stolen from a number of other banks in Mosul.⁵⁶⁸⁵⁶⁹ However, doubt was later cast on whether ISIL was able to retrieve anywhere near that sum from the central bank,⁵⁷⁰ and even on whether the bank robberies had actually occurred.⁵⁷¹Dell Precision M4500 CPU Fan

Exporting oil from oilfields captured by ISIL brings in tens of millions of dollars.¹⁷⁹⁵⁷² One US Treasury official has estimated that ISIL earns US$1 million a day from the export of oil. Much of the oil is sold illegally in Turkey.⁵⁷³ Dubai-based energy analysts have put the combined oil revenue from ISIL's Iraqi-Syrian production as high as US$3 million per day.⁵⁷⁴ ISIL also extracts wealth through taxation and extortion.⁵⁷³HP G71-340US CPU Fan

Today, the majority of the group's funding comes from the production and sale of energy. It controls around 300 oil wells in Iraq alone. At its peak, it operated 350 oil wells in Iraq, but lost 45 to foreign airstrikes. It has captured 60% of Syria's total production capacity. About one fifth of its total capacity is in operation. ISIL earned US$2.5 million a day by selling 50,000–60,000 barrels of oil daily.⁵⁷³⁵⁷⁵Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7016 CPU Fan

Foreign sales rely on a long-standing black market to export via Turkey. Many of the smugglers and corrupt Turkish border guards who helped Saddam Hussein to evade sanctions are helping ISIL to export oil and import cash.^575576577 Energy sales include selling electric power from captured power plants in northern Syria; some of this electricity is reportedly sold back to the Syrian government.⁵⁷⁸HP Pavilion dv5-2135dx CPU Fan

Sales of artifacts may be the second largest source of funding for ISIL, according to an article in Newsweek. More than a third of Iraq's important sites are under ISIL's control. It looted the 9th century BC grand palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II at Kalhu. Tablets, manuscripts and cuneiforms were sold, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.  HP Envy 17-3000er CPU Fan

Stolen artefacts are smuggled into Turkey and Jordan. Abdulamir al-Hamdani, an archaeologist from SUNY Stony Brook, has said that ISIL is "looting... the very roots of humanity, artifacts from the oldest civilizations in the world".The group routinely practices extortion, by demanding money from truck drivers and threatening to blow up businesses, for example.  HP Envy 17 Series CPU Fan

Robbing banks and gold shops has been another source of income.²⁴⁷ The Iraq government indirectly finances ISIS, as they continue to pay the salaries of the thousands of government employees who continue to work in areas controlled by ISIS, which then confiscates as much as half of those Iraqi government employees' pay.

ISIL is widely reported as receiving funding from private donors in the Gulf states,⁵⁸HP 532614-001 CPU Fan

and the governments of Iraq and Iran have repeatedly accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of financing and supporting the group. Ahead of the conference of the US-led anti-ISIL coalition held in Paris in September 2014, France's foreign minister acknowledged that a number of countries at the table had "very probably" financed ISIL's advances.⁵⁸²

Although Iran and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of funding the group,⁵HP Envy 17-3000er CPU Fan

there is reportedly no evidence that this is the case.^123586587588 However, according to The Atlantic, ISIL may have been a major part of Saudi Arabian Bandar bin Sultan's covert-ops strategy in Syria.⁵⁸⁹

Unregistered charity organisations are used as fronts to pass funds to ISIL. As they use aliases on Facebook'sWhatsApp and Kik, the individuals and organisations are untraceable.  HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan

Donations transferred to fund ISIL's operations are disguised as "humanitarian charity". Saudi Arabia has imposed a blanket ban on unauthorised donations destined for Syria as the only means of stopping such funding.⁵⁷⁵

Since 2012, ISIL has produced annual reports giving numerical information on its operations, somewhat in the style of corporate reports, seemingly in a bid to encourage potential donors.⁵⁴⁵⁵⁹⁰HP 493001-001 CPU Fan

On 11 November 2014, ISIL announced its intent to mint its own gold, silver, and copper coins, based on the coinage used by the Umayyad Caliphate in the 7th century. Following the announcement, the group began buying up gold, silver, and copper in markets throughout northern and western Iraq, according to precious metal traders in the area. Toshiba BFB0605HA CPU Fan

Members of the group also reportedly began stripping the insulation off electrical power cables to obtain the copper wiring.⁵⁹¹⁵⁹² The announcement included designs of the proposed coins, which displayed imagery including a map of the world, a sword and shield, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and a crescent moon. Economics experts, such as Professor Steven H. HP Pavilion dv5-1174ca CPU Fan

Hanke of Johns Hopkins University, were sceptical of the plans.⁵⁹²⁵⁹³ See also Modern gold dinar. Toshiba Satellite A110-101 CPU Fan,HP Pavilion dv5-1174ca CPU Fan,HP 535442-001 CPU Fan