TerrorismU.S. air strike on ISIS vault destroys “millions of dollars”
The Pentagon has released footage of an airstrike against an ISIS bank in Mosul, Iraq. The strike destroyed millions of dollars the Islamist organization kept at the bank’ vaults. The attack took place on 11 January. A video footage shows large plumes of smoke emerging above the building after it was destroyed by two 2,000 pound bombs, followed by clouds of currency bills drifting above the explosion.
The Pentagon has released footage of an airstrike against an ISIS bank in Mosul, Iraq. The strike destroyed millions of dollars the Islamist organization kept at the bank’ vaults.
The attack took place on 11 January.
Gizmodo reports that video footage shows large plumes of smoke emerging above the building after it was destroyed by two 2,000 pound bombs, followed by clouds of currency bills drifting above the explosion.
Analysts say that the attack on the bank was part of the new phase of U.S. strategy against ISIS, a phase which will emphasize crippling ISIS finances (see “Ash Carter unveils a broader, more robust campaign to defeat ISIS,” HSNW, 14 January 2016). The U.S. government will likely continue to target ISIS’s financial and other economic assets.
Gen. Lloyd Austin, head of U.S. Central Command, told CNN: “It was a good strike. And we estimate that it served to deprive ISIL of millions of dollars.
”And combined with all of the other strikes that we’ve done on Isil’s gas and oil production and distribution capabilities and strikes against his economic infrastructure and the various sources of revenue, you can bet that (it) is feeling the strain on his chequebook.
”ISIL needs those funds to pay their fighters, to recruit new fighters and to conduct their various maligned activities,” he added.
“You know, we said from the outset of this campaign that to defeat ISIL, we’re going to have to take away its ability to resource itself.”
