How ISIL works

Recent leaked documents obtained by The Guardian has revealed further details of ISIL’s blueprint for the “caliphate,” which outlines rules and regulations for matters including health, education, and commerce. ISIL has so far established around 16 centralized departments to overlook and govern the regions they control. To help carry out these tasks, ISIL has advertised job opportunities in their social service department and education in the last year. The report also highlights the effort that goes into indoctrinating children from an early age, adding further evidence that young children are used to carry out violent acts.

The documents show the notable shift in how the terrorist group operates, which initially policed how people dressed, but is now trying to desperately assert its jurisdiction across Iraq and Syria and unify the two separate countries, while protecting the borders of the Islamic State. ISIL imposes rent and price controls on a variety of goods across the region it controls, and has put a great deal of effort into an anti-corruption drive to try and placate the people living in the region.

The terrorist group is bringing in around $80 million every month, according to analysts at IHS. Most of its funding—around of 50%—comes from taxation and confiscation of areas it controls. Despite being the target of international co-ordinated airstrikes, oil revenue funds 43%, to the terrorist group’s revenues. In August 2014, ISIL was thought to be controlling more than a dozen oil fields in Iraq and Syria. Drug smuggling, donations, and the sale of electricity make up the remainder of their income.

The report notes that, unlike al-Qaeda, ISIL is not heavily dependent on foreign donors for money.

ISIL’s oil fields have been the target of air strikes, with the most recent bombing campaign carried out by Britain. The Ministry of Defence hopes to “cut off the terrorists’ oil revenue at the very source.” IHS’s report suggests airstrikes by the US-led coalition are having some impact; it has significantly affected the terrorist group’s refining capacity and ability to transport oil. The Pentagon claims air strikes have crippled ISIL’s oil industry in Syria.

The report notes, however, that its far more difficult to make a dent in taxes, ISIL’s largest source of revenue, with airstrikes.