Airstrikes target oil refineries in Syria held by Islamic extremists

[unhappycamper]

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-terror-finance-20140924-story.html



An F/A-18E Super Hornet lands aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush after conducting strike missions Sept. 23. The next day, U.S. aircraft struck a dozen small oil refineries in eastern Syria.

Airstrikes target oil refineries in Syria held by Islamic extremists
Brian Bennett, W.J. Hennigan
9.24.2014

Making the first major push to choke off financing for Islamic State, U.S. and allied Arab warplanes bombed a dozen small oil refineries in eastern Syria on Wednesday that U.S. officials said were part of a $2 million-a-day revenue stream for the Sunni Muslim extremist group.

The Obama administration also named 11 individuals and one supposed charity as global terrorists, accusing them of recruiting foreign fighters, shipping weapons and raising millions of dollars for Islamic State and several affiliated groups.





The moves came as the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution focused on preventing and disrupting financial activities of foreign terrorists and hindering their efforts to travel across borders.

The air assault on the remote oil facilities marked a further escalation of the bombing campaign launched early Tuesday by the United States and five Arab partners. U.S. officials say they are determined to disrupt the money flow that has made Islamic State, also known by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL, the world’s wealthiest terrorist group.