Security experts in Pakistan tell Sputnik that local ISIS commander Yousaf al Salafi revealed he has been receiving funds through the United States.

MOSCOW, January 28 (Sputnik) — Yousaf al Salafi, believed to be Pakistan’s commander of the Islamic State terrorist group, has confessed during an interrogation that he has been receiving funds through the United States, reports Express Tribune.

“Al Salafi, a Pakistani Syrian who came to the country via Turkey just last year, was arrested along with his two companions. During his interrogation, the local ISIS commander revealed that he received funding channeled through America in order to run the organization in Pakistan and recruit young people to fight in Syria,” a source revealed to Daily Express on the condition of anonymity.

“The US funding is an open secret here,” a security source based in Islamabad told Sputnik.

He went to elaborate that most people in Pakistan know and believe that the US sponsored the Taliban (who later became Al Qaeda) in the past in order to achieve their goals in the region during the Soviet Union occupation of Afghanistan. “Many believe that after the attack on 9/11, Al Qaeda was used as a pretext to invade Afghanistan."

He exclusively told Sputnik, “It is a similar replicated scenario of the Islamic State here in this region and also in the Middle East where the Americans want to destabilize the region in order to serve their own interests.”

Sources said Al Salafi’s revelations were shared with the US Secretary of State John Kerry during his recent visit to Islamabad. “The matter was also taken up with CENTCOM chief General Lloyd Austin during his visit to Islamabad earlier this month,” local media reports.

Al Salafi also admitted he was recruiting people to send them to Syria and was receiving $600 per person from Syria. He was aided by an accomplice, who is said to be an imam of a local mosque.

“The US has been condemning the IS activities but unfortunately has not been able to stop funding of these organizations, which is being routed through the US,” a source said.

“The US had to dispel the impression that it is financing the group for its own interests and that is why it launched offensive against the organization in Iraq but not in Syria,” he added.

On that claim the security source told Sputnik, "Yes that is true as this issue was raised several times in the local media and even in the diplomatic corridors between US and Pakistan and there was media reporters here suggesting that hundreds of recruits have been exported to strain from Pakistan."