ISIS is selling oil to Syria, the very country the militant group is trying to take over.

Apparently, ISIS makes $1.5 million a day by selling oil, making it a strategic priority to take over oil fields and refineries in Syria.



The Syrian government, ruled by the brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad, is currently engaged in a civil war with various rebel groups, as well as a war against ISIS, which is trying to establish a caliphate in the region.

Syria needs oil to fight these wars, and since ISIS controls a significant amount of the oil production infrastructure in the country, they are forced to buy oil from ISIS.



In addition to selling to Syria, ISIS also sells oil to black market traders in the region, who sell the oil to rebel groups or people living in areas that ISIS controls.

Story by Jacob Shamsian and editing by Jeremy Dreyfuss