US ups strikes on Islamic State oil assets

ERBIL, November 13, 2015 – The US and its allies have stepped up airstrikes on oilfields in the control of Islamic State militants in eastern Syria in an attempt to unsettle the one of the group’s main sources of revenue, US officials said this week.

Defence Secretary Ashton B. Carter recently described militant oil assets as “a critical pillar of the financial infrastructure” of the group. Hydrocarbons earn the group about $40 million per month, according to Treasury Department estimates.

While the US-led air campaign has previously conducted periodic airstrikes against oil refineries and other production facilities in eastern Syria under group control, engineers have been able to restore operations subsequently, US officials have said.

Now, attacks and a focus on inflicting damage that takes longer to fix or requires specially ordered parts will be increased, US officials have said. This policy was first evidenced on October 21, when B-1 bombers and other allied warplanes hit 26 targets in the Omar oilfield near the city of Deir Ezzor, one of Syria’s largest oil-producing sites.

According to The New York Times, US military analysts estimate the field generates between $1.7 million and $5.1 million per month for Islamic State militants.

Earlier this week, French warplanes struck a nearby oilfield. The US and its allies intend to shut down eight major oilfields and around two-thirds of the country’s refineries, as well as other oil-production sites controlled by the militants over the next several weeks, the US daily reported.

The new operation has been titled Tidal Wave 2 by US Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland, a reference to Operation Tidal Wave, a Second World War campaign targeting Romania’s oil industry.

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