There are annual lists published of the richest individuals, corporations, and CEOs. I thought it would be useful to list the five richest terrorist groups. This list excludes nation states that materially support these orgainzations such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Pakistan and others. Much of the money flowing into these organizations are from small donors in mosques across the world. These donations are called zakat.
As of August 2011, in terms of their annual operating budgets, the Taliban, Hezbollah, the FARC, Hamas, and al-Shabaab may be the wealthiest terrorist organizations in the world today. Al Qaeda trails, but if all its affiliated organizations are included, Al Qaeda remains in the upper echelon of the world’s terror budgets.
1. Taliban
Taliban nets between $70 and $400 million from drug activity (of which at least $15 to $25 million is collected as ushr, Islam’s 10 percent tax on harvests) annually. In addition, the Taliban collects an estimated $150 to $200 million per year in zakat and sadaqa donations, mostly from the Arab nations of the Persian Gulf. These figures exclude extensive Taliban revenues from ransoms, extortion, and improperly diverted money from Western aid, U.N. contributions, defense contractors, and the Afghanistan government itself. My own estimate would place that subtotal of an additional $50 million per year.
Splitting the difference for the estimated range of revenues, that would bring the Taliban’s total budget to an estimate of approximately $560 million annually.
2. Hezbollah
Rachel Ehrenfeld’s Funding Evil documented that Hezbollah’s annual operating budget is between $200 and $500 million. Iran provides at least $120 million of that, with the rest coming from khums, drug trafficking, and other criminal activity.
3. FARC
Columbia’s Marxist guerrillas, the FARC, enjoy annual revenues that range from estimates of $80 to $350 million.
4. HAMAS
For 2010, Gaza’s budget adopted by Hamas was $540 million, but that’s a larger amount than Hamas’s own budget. The Council on Foreign Relations lists Hamas’s budget as $70 million. However, the recent news that Iran is cutting or ending its aid to Hamas which would substantially diminish Hamas’s treasury. Hamas receives significant funding through charitable front groups and from Saudi Arabia.
5. Al Shabaab
A recent report from the U.N. revealed that al-Shabaab’s revenues are between $70 and $100 million per year, propelling it into the top tier of global jihadist funding.
DISHONORABLE MENTIONS
Al Qaeda
The CIA estimated that before 9/11, al Qaeda’s annual budget was $30 million, which was almost exclusively from “donations” (zakat and sadaqa). By almost all accounts, al Qaeda’s financial situation has deteriorated since then. Other estimates place their budget from $16 to$50 million, which still puts al Qaeda itself toward the bottom of the list. However, there are indications that revenue collections of al Qaeda offshoots such as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula(AQAP), Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and al-Shabaab are flush with funds. With AQIM in particular, the evidence shows that funds are being transferred from the regional organization back to the parent al Qaeda organization itself.
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Reuters calls Lashkar-e-Taiba (whose revenues include hawala, the Gulf, and Pakistan’s ISI) “one of the largest and best-funded Islamic militant organizations” in South Asia.
It bears repeating that much of the revenue listed above, with the exception of the FARC’s drug money, originate from traditional Islamic revenue sources such as zakat, sadaqa, khums, and ushr, rather than from “secular,” criminal activity.
Comment
Comment by Laura on September 21, 2011 at 5:38pm Comment by Robert L. Voelsing Sr. on September 21, 2011 at 5:16pm Comment by Drake Pendragon on September 20, 2011 at 11:58pm Comment by Edward Moses on September 20, 2011 at 11:47pm Comment by El Cid Vencedor on September 20, 2011 at 11:18pm I dream of the day when there will be no more muslims in the US, or the world! I've read the koran, it is satanic in all it's teachings, with abrogations etc that they use. There is no hope for these people, none !
Comment by william e grant on September 20, 2011 at 7:12pm Comment by Jim Pryor on September 20, 2011 at 3:40pm Comment by Jennie A. on September 20, 2011 at 3:21pm Comment by Doug Nicholson on September 20, 2011 at 2:30pm Comment by Norma J. Sears on September 20, 2011 at 2:24pm © 2013 Created by Judson Phillips.
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