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Air strikes dent Islamic State oil smuggling operations
[Dhaka Tribune] The coalition forces, freshly bolstered by inclusion of Britannia and Germany, are going after the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group's oil industry, destroying refineries and hundreds of tanker trucks transporting oil from eastern Syria in a heavy bombardment in recent days aiming to break the Lion of Islams' biggest source of income. The campaign already appears to be having some effect, with oil prices rising in areas of Syria that rely on crude smuggled out of IS-controlled areas. But experts say it will be difficult to cut off the myrmidons' trade completely since they are likely to switch to smaller, more elusive vehicles. Putting a total end to the industry would mean destroying the oil fields in Syria, but that would also bring hardship to millions in the population under IS rule and others who depend on the group's oil, causing fuel shortages as winter sets in. Otherwise, taking the fields would require ground forces. Still, the campaign could hit hard on an industry that US officials say generates more than half the revenue the Islamic State group uses to maintain its rule over its swath of territory across Syria and Iraq and pay its fighters. IS controls almost all of Syria's oil fields, concentrated in the east of the country, producing some 30,000 barrels a day, along with one field in Iraq. It smuggles most abroad, mainly to ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , selling at cut-rate prices and generating nearly $50m a month. It is not clear why coalition forces waited this long before going after IS oil infrastructure. US officials previously had said they avoided attacking fuel trucks out of concern for civilian casualties. In recent strikes, warplanes first dropped leaflets telling drivers to flee, reading, "Airstrikes are coming. Oil trucks will be destroyed. Get away from your oil trucks immediately. Do not risk your life." Combined with recent gains by Kurdish forces and their Arab allies that have cut off some of the main supply routes between IS strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the Last monght, Kurdish forces captured the town of Sinjar in northwestern Iraq, severing of a highway serving as a supply route for Islamic State fighters between the northern Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... and the myrmidon's self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa in Syria. An Iraqi oil refinery also has been taken from the myrmidons, and Iraqi forces have encircled the western Iraqi city of Ramadi. It is too soon to tell to the impact of this week's Rami Abdurrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, said prices of fuel shot up in some IS-ruled areas by around 80%, due to truck drivers refusing to drive to IS oil facilities, fearing their vehicles will be hit. Many parts of Syria controlled by other rebels --even ones fighting the Islamic State group -- rely on IS for oil since they have few other sources. Posted by: Fred 2015-12-05 |
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