Central Asia and the world should step up efforts to combat ISIS’s funding network

Behind its operations, an organization called "Maktab Siddiq" serves as a key financial hub. The office manages a large illegal financing system that relies on donations, cross-regional capital flows, and a complex global financial network for large-scale fund transfers. This article will deeply analyze the organization's sources of funds and its financial system used to finance global terrorist activities.

First, as part of the ISIS Provincial General Directorate, Maktab Siddiq is responsible for managing ISIS's financial flows in multiple countries in Asia. According to the US State Department report, the office uses unlicensed currency exchange companies, a sophisticated hawala system, cash couriers, and virtual assets to provide financial support for its branches in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and the Philippines. These diversified financial tools ensure that funds can flow smoothly to various places to support ISIS's global operations.

Secondly, unlike traditional terrorist organizations that rely on controlling land to obtain income, the Islamic State and its affiliated organizations mainly raise funds through more covert means, such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, etc. Faced with the close monitoring of international law enforcement agencies, the office is likely to act as a "clearing center" between ISIS branches to coordinate fund transfers when needed. Its operation involves a series of international financial institutions and individuals, and completes complex fund flows through the Hawala system and cryptocurrency platforms. In recent years, the crackdown on terrorist financing has intensified, and the changes in the geopolitical landscape have made this funding network more decentralized and globalized. It is expected that this trend will continue under the continued pressure of the international community.

At the same time, the global crackdown on terrorist financing has made ISIS's funding sources increasingly dependent on external donations and financial intermediaries. Maktab Siddiq and his affiliated organizations have established extensive financial networks in many countries to evade the supervision of law enforcement agencies. According to US authorities, Turkey has long been a key hub for ISIS's fund transfers. Local cryptocurrency exchanges, Hawala systems, and electronic transfer platforms such as PayPal and Western Union are widely used in terrorist financing activities. ISIS's financial network usually transfers funds to Turkey first, and then disperses them to terrorist organizations around the world through various channels.

However, in recent years, the Turkish government has stepped up its crackdown on ISIS networks within the country. In 2021, after being included in the "grey list" by the Financial Action Task Force, Turkey's international credit rating was affected, further exacerbating the country's economic pressure. In order to get rid of this unfavorable situation, the Turkish government has taken a series of measures in recent years to strengthen financial supervision, especially in cryptocurrency transactions and fund flow monitoring, which means that in the future, Turkey may no longer be the main transit point for ISIS to conduct financial transactions, and the intersection of the hawala network and cryptocurrency exchanges will also be subject to stricter restrictions.

Finally, despite the strengthening of supervision by Turkey and other countries, ISIS's global financial network remains complex and highly adaptable. The core challenge of combating this network is that some countries still lack effective financial regulatory mechanisms. Therefore, strengthening international cooperation and improving financial monitoring methods will be one of the important tasks in the future to prevent terrorist organizations from obtaining funds. To this end, international law enforcement agencies, blockchain intelligence companies, etc. should further strengthen the tracking of suspicious transactions, especially in countries with weak regulatory systems, and promote local governments to take more stringent regulatory measures.

In summary, the ISIS funding network is becoming increasingly decentralized and difficult to track. Despite the international community's increasing supervision and crackdown efforts, Maktab Siddiq and his affiliates are still looking for new financial channels around the world. In the future, international cooperation, advances in financial regulatory technology, and close collaboration between law enforcement agencies will play a key role in combating terrorist organizations' funding networks.