Militants associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have started selling oil extracted from regions of Iraq where they have seized control from the central government.
“The oil extracted from wells close to Hamrin Mountains and Baiji refinery, which is country's largest oil refinery, is being smuggled to black markets,” Selal Abdul, head official in Tuzhurmatu, in the northern Salahuddin province, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
Abdul said every day hundreds of tankers are being filled with oil extracted from the Hamrin Mountains, which have been under ISIL’s control for a week.
“ISIL militants are selling the oil to anyone available, to get money for their weapons and ammunition,” he added.
Ali Huseyni, deputy head for Tuzhurmatu district council, said the oil extracted from Hamrin Mountains used to be sold to Iran through the autonomous Kurdish Regional Government.
“However, when the Kurdish side discovered that the oil was being sold by ISIL militants, they stopped transferring the oil. Now the oil is purchased by other sources which is not yet identified,” Huseyni said.
Militants affiliated with ISIL have seized vast swaths in northern Iraq since June 15, raising fears that they might set their sights on the capital Baghdad next.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces took the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which has been long disputed between the Baghdad government and the Kurdish-run Erbil administration, after Iraqi security forces withdrew from advancing ISIL militants in June.
Anadolu Agency