ISIS barbarians make £320m on oil to fund the bloody empire

BLOODTHIRSTY Islamic State (ISIS) militants have cashed in £320million ($500m) from black-market oil trading to fund its evil empire - as the US-led coalition fails to make a dent in the jihadis war chest.

Despite a year of bombing, more than 10,600 air strikes and a coalition of more than 60 countries, 34,000 to 40,000 barrels of oil are produced in ISIS-controlled territory, which makes a staggering £989,000 ($1.53m) a day. 

Islamic State are making millions selling oil

The US and its allies’ latest focus has been to stop the terror network by suffocating its financial strength. 

But they have failed to address the sophisticated and long-standing oil smuggling routes and networks that the money-making ISIS have discovered and taken advantage of. 

Kobani after it was targeted by a US-led air strike 

In the face of repeated challenges to their evil reign, the terror group instead operate as if it were a national oil company, running operations to avoid air strikes and trade networks with impunity. 

A US source said: "This year we calculated they made $40m (£25.7m) from oil in just one month. That is even after the air strikes." 

ISIS simply refine their oil in open pits at hundreds of makeshift facilities across Syria

The millions made from oil trumps any other source of revenue made by the barbarians including taxation, extortion and trading stolen goods. 

It comes as a stark contrast to the US defeat of al-Qaeda in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks and raises serious question over whether ISIS can actually be dislodged from power. 

Unlike its rivals, the jihadists generate most of their income from within its borders and doesn't depend on covert fundraising. 

The terror group simply refine their oil in open pits at hundreds of makeshift facilities across war-torn Syria, which are operated by locals unaffiliated to ISIS. 

This throws US military planners into chaos as ISIS oil refineries are not easily distinguished from regular trucks. 

Syrians inspect the damage following a US-led air strike

A US official added: "You kill the driver, you get a family of jihadis. So we can't bomb them. You run the risk of radicalising the population. 

"They are generating an awful lot of money internally." 

The coalition is now considering options to undercut the terror group, which include supplying oil at cheaper prices to non-ISIS groups in Syria or flooding northern Iraq markets with cheap crude.