ISIS-K Financial Disruption

About

Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information that leads to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K).

Based in Afghanistan, ISIS-K raises funds through natural resources extraction, including from lucrative talc mines in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, as well as smuggling these resources out of the country. ISIS-K also generates funds through local donations, taxation, extortion of the local population and businesses, and receives some financial support from the main ISIS terrorist organization, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. ISIS-K financial facilitators also generate income through illicit tobacco sales in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and their affiliates have been involved with reselling luxury goods. ISIS-K has relied on the informal hawala payment system to transfer funds and finance its activities. ISIS-K’s leadership also has been linked to digital currency addresses used to launder money. As a result of these actions, ISIS-K has been able to finance weapons purchases, training, and terrorist operations.

The U.S. Department of State is offering rewards for information leading to the identification and disruption of ISIS-K’s revenue sources and key financial facilitation mechanisms, to include:

• Front companies engaged in international activity on ISIS-K’s behalf;
• Entities or individuals assisting ISIS-K in evading U.S. and international sanctions;
• Formal financial institutions doing business with ISIS-K;
• ISIS-K transfers of funds and materials;
• ISIS-K donors or financial facilitators;
• Financial institutions or exchange houses facilitating ISIS-K transactions;
• Businesses or investments owned or controlled by ISIS-K or its financiers;
• Online fundraising campaigns launched by or for the benefit of ISIS-K;
• Financial account numbers and virtual currency wallet addresses used by ISIS-K to transfer funds and conduct business;
• Criminal schemes involving ISIS-K members and supporters, which are financially benefiting the organization.

ISIS-K has taken the lives of hundreds of Afghans in attacks on schools, mosques, medical facilities, and funerals. ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the May 2020 attack at a Kabul maternity hospital that killed 24 people, including newborn babies and their mothers. In August 2021, ISIS-K also claimed responsibility for the suicide bomber attack at Kabul International Airport that killed 13 U.S. service members during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. In September 2022, ISIS-K claimed responsibility for a bomb blast that killed 19 teenagers at a college in a Shia neighborhood of Kabul. On January 3, 2024, ISIS-K detonated two explosive devices that killed 100 people and wounded more than 250 others in Kerman, Iran. ISIS-K also perpetrated an attack at the Crocus City Hall music venue near Moscow that killed at least 137 people in March 2024.

On January 14, 2016, the U.S. Department of State designated ISIS-K as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. Previously, on September 29, 2015, the Department of State designated ISIS-K as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended. As a result, all of ISIS-K’s property, and interests in property, subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with ISIS-K. It is a crime to knowingly provide, or to attempt or conspire to provide, material support or resources to ISIS-K.