Small Wars Journal

Air Campaign Shifts to ISIL's Cash and Oil

Mon, 04/18/2016 - 12:24am

Air Campaign Shifts to ISIL's Cash and Oil by Jim Michaels, USA Today

The U.S.-led coalition has ramped up its air campaign on the Islamic State’s finances, launching 15 strikes against cash depots and more than 125 attacks on oil infrastructure over the past six months, according to U.S. military statistics.

"We've been able to identify and strike strategic targets that place increased pressure on their ability to recruit and sustain operations,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Brown, who oversees the air war, said in a statement.

The Islamic State cut pay to its fighters by as much as half, after much of the terror group's cash literally went up in smoke, according to the Pentagon. Revenue from oil, the militants' principal source of income, has also taken a hit…

Read on.