ISIS Selling Church Artifacts on Black Market to Fund Terrorism
The Islamic State has been selling artifacts from churches and other cultural centers in the nation of Iraq to fund their organization, says a British publication.
ISIS is taking antiquities, including those worth millions of dollars, from the Middle Eastern country and selling them to prospective Western buyers, according to Oliver Moody of The Times.
"Willy Bruggeman, a former deputy director of Europol who is now president of the Belgian federal police council, said that some of the artefacts had almost certainly been sold illegally to buyers in the UK, although none had yet been traced to Britain," reported Moody on Wednesday.
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The English language edition of Shafaq News supported that claim in a piece written in response to the Moody article.
"ISIS elements use bulldozers in order to get gypsum and wall paintings from old churches, which brings them a lot of money," reported Shafaq.
"Iraqi Intelligence Service confirmed earlier this year that ISIS was able to collect 23 million pounds from the sale of artifacts from the Syrian city of Nabaq, which is full with Christian Collectibles."
Formed out of an al-Qaida affiliate in April 2013 and led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS garnered international headlines during the summer for their atrocity laden conquest of portions of Syria and Iraq.
Much of their power has been concentrated in Northern Iraq, with US-backed Kurdish forces battling the Islamic State at various towns and cities.
A strict Islamist group, ISIS has been known for their attacking of religious minorities including Christians, as well as attacks on Muslim sites they consider heretical.
The Moody article is not the first report of ISIS' efforts to sell artifacts pillaged from Northern Iraq to Western consumers.
In late September, the English edition of al Arabiya news reported of ISIS selling off various artifacts to fund their terrorist operations in the region.
"Speaking at a conference at the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO in Paris, France's ambassador to UNESCO Philippe Lalliot warned that Iraq's cultural heritage is in 'great danger'," reported al Arabiya.
