US now attacking ISIL oil refineries

Washington Times:
The U.S. military began dropping missiles on Islamic State-owned oil fields in eastern Syria Wednesday, part of an overarching strategic plan to dismantle the terrorist network’s ability to finance its violent Jihadi war.

United States fighter jets and aircraft belonging to two of its Arab partner nations began pummeling modular oil refineries in Syria at about 4:30 p.m. EST, a senior U.S. official told The Washington Times.

The oil refineries are “fairly small” in size but numerous, the official said. Destroying those refineries delivers a powerful blow to the Islamic State, according to the official.

“This attacks their ability to make money,” the official said. “This is their funding stream. This is their revenue stream, or a large part of it.”
...

The group has been making more than $50 million a month from the oil revenues it reaps off of the hundreds of Syrian refineries in its possession, according to Reuters. That money comes from deals that Islamic State militants have made with local traders, buyers and even businessmen who support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Reuters reported.

“Islamic State makes not less than $2 million daily that allows them to pay salaries and maintain their operations,” said a former Western oil executive who worked in a foreign oil firm operating in Syria before the crisis and who is familiar with the nascent oil market.
...
This is a good start.  The US should also be knocking out the tanker trucks used to export oil to the black market in Turkey.  We should also be attacking the locations where they keep their booty collected from banks in cities they have captured.

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