WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Zarate explained that terrorist groups like al-Qaeda used to rely on centralized financing and external sources of funding. However, the tendency has been changing toward ensuring diversity of revenue.
"You have [terrorist] groups that have grown more localized, more able to create diversified portfolios to raise and move money around the world," Zarate said at the Center for American Progress.
"These groups can… run war economies, take advantage of conflict or regions lacking governance," he added.
Zarate also said that terrorist groups currently control resource-rich regions, which boosts their financial capabilities.
On Thursday, a US Treasury Department spokesperson told Sputnik that ISIL had derived up to $1.5 billion in revenue from looting banks and illicit oil proceeds.
