Barrels full of gold: Treasure left by Baghdadi to finance ISIS terrorism

Aya Ezz

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US forces allied with it have once again found a secret hideout in a farm belonging to former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the Kasra Faraj area on the southern outskirts of Raqqa.

The cache included four barrels filled with large quantities of gold and money, estimated at about $1 million, and it is believed that these funds and gold were used to finance ISIS terrorist operations in the region.

Source of gold barrels

There is no confirmed source for the origin of the gold barrels found at Baghdadi’s farm, but there are some possible hypotheses.

One of these hypotheses is that ISIS stole these barrels from the gold reserves of countries such as Syria, Iraq and Libya. According to the World Gold Council, the gold reserves of these countries range from 116.6 tons in Libya to 382.5 tons in Syria.

ISIS has taken advantage of the chaos of wars and conflicts in these countries to seize part of their mineral wealth.

Another hypothesis is that ISIS bought these barrels from illegal traders or from international smuggling networks, using the money it obtained from various sources, such as oil and gas trade, antiquities, human trafficking, kidnapping, ransom, taxes and fines.

ISIS chose to invest part of its money in buying gold as a means of preserving its value and securing it from inflation and collapse.

It is not excluded that ISIS would have more hideouts similar to Baghdadi’s farm in other areas, especially in the areas it controlled.

Benefit

Syrian activist Rehan Farid said that ISIS used this wealth to finance its military and terrorist operations in the region by buying weapons, ammunition and explosives, paying salaries to its fighters, and attracting more affiliates.

Farid explained to the Reference that ISIS used also it to influence the local and regional economies by creating a shortage in the global market for gold and increasing its prices, as well as by creating chaos and unrest in the countries from which the gold was stolen.

He pointed out that the terrorist organization used the gold to promote itself and its ideology by showing its strength, wealth, and legitimacy as an Islamic caliphate and by issuing its own gold coins bearing religious slogans and symbols.

Fighting ISIS with stolen gold

Farid stressed that fighting ISIS with this gold is not easy or simple, as there are several factors and challenges that prevent the use of this wealth to eliminate the terrorist organization, including the absence of a clear and transparent mechanism for the distribution and management of this wealth between the local and international forces participating in the fight against ISIS, which may differ in their goals, interests and agendas.

Likewise, there are no guarantees or oversight on the effective, responsible and legitimate use of this wealth, and that it is not leaked to other parties that may exploit it for political, economic or military purposes contrary to international law or human rights.

“The inadequacy of this wealth to cover all the needs and requirements of fighting ISIS, which includes not only the military aspect, but also the humanitarian, reconstruction, developmental, security and political aspects, require joint and sustainable efforts from all concerned parties,” Farid added.