Baghdad: Hundreds of jihadis are desserting Islamic State to join rival factions, after they were forced to take a pay cut, according to a report in Dailymail.
The terror group that has seen immense growth in the past few years is allegedly facing a financial crisis and has forced its fighters to take a pay cut, slashing their salaries down to a meagre £65 a month as opposed to the £260 they were earlier getting. This has led to at least 200 jihadis leaving the Islamic State for other extremist organisations.
According to the report, the group which is headed by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been facing a paucity of funds after air strikes in Iraq and Syria rendered it unable to access a multi-billion pound war chest.
The jihadist group until recently was considered the best financed teror outfit in the world, it provided its gunmen handsome pays for their nefarious activities, but now many fighters are opting to join other organisations in the strife-torn Syria.
A large part of the group’s wealth was made by its illegal and terror activities like bank robberies, people-smuggling, from producing oil as it controls large parts of Iraq and Syria, ransoms from kidnapping among other organised activities. But Islamic State’s accountants have cut down on cash convoys between war zones due to increasing fears over drone attacks and air strikes.
‘Fighters have left recently as the money which was once lavished on them has become increasingly less reliable. Some are unhappy with their prospects’, a source in Baghdad was quoted saying in the report.
It has also been reported that ISIS chiefs fear further financial hurdles due to their expansion in North Africa.
