Germany’s public radio and television broadcasters have obtained Islamic State documents that show the terrorist group has a sophisticated level of bureaucracy -- including financial aid for the families of suicide bombers.
The broadcasters received the documents from Iraqi forces, and they show extensive plans by ISIS, also called ISIL, to operate like an independent state.
Those plans include creating a currency using gold, silver and copper coins imprinted with an Islamic State design.
The documents also reveal plans to maintain a detailed accounting system, logging every expense in its terrorism campaign. In one region under its control, the group spent more than $2 million in a single month on vehicles, weapons and equipment.
“Definitely a group operating on a technical level far beyond the average -- beyond anything we’ve come across before,” said Gerard Russell, a senior fellow with the International Security Program at New America Foundation.
Islamic State also keeps attendance on its fighters, marking who’s injured and who’s on vacation, and has a record of their contact information.
That’s a major concern for Christianne Boudreau of Calgary, whose son Damian Clairmont died fighting alongside ISIS members.
“My biggest problem is my other children,” she said. “What information do they have about them and who are they going to try to approach?”
Speaking in Washington, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said it will take more than military strength to wipe out the Islamic State.
“It also includes undercutting ISIL’s flow of resources, countering ISIL’s messaging, constricting the flow of foreign fighters, providing humanitarian assistance and our intensive regional and global diplomatic effort,” he said.
With a report by CTV’s Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief Laurie Graham
