ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Reuters/Youssef Boudlal Islamic State has set fixed prices to sell Yazidi and Christian women who have been abducted by members of the militant group, Iraqi media have reported. The barbaric tariffs range from around $40 for older women to $170 for children. The group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, says they will execute anyone who violates the controls, which have been implemented. $43 is the price for a Yazidi or Christian women who is aged between 40 and 50. For those aged between 20 and 30, the price is $86. The sickening trend continues, with girls falling into the 10 to 20 age group being sold for $129 and children up to the age of nine, commanding the highest prices of $172 or 200,000 dinars. The document states that there has not been so much interest in purchasing slaves recently. “The market to sell women and spoils of war has been experiencing a significant decrease, which has adversely affected ISIS revenue and financing of the Mujahideen,” said the document, which was obtain

ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ) is the world’s largest, richest terrorist organizations, ever. It’s a self-sustaining enterprise that runs mainly on extortion and crime networks, hostages, oil, donations…According to Martin Chulov; ISIS has grown from a ragtag band of extremists to perhaps the most cash-rich and capable terror group in the world with a $2 billion jihadist network. The scale of ISIS resources is unprecedented: A terrorist organization while ruthless, but still able to occupy large areas of territory, quickly… for example; it controls several major cities in Iraq, which it occupied in just three days, it holds parts of several other cities and continues to menace still other cities throughout Iraq and Syria: It’s quite an accomplishment… According to Michael Knights; some estimates of ISIS’s wealth are overstated, for example; the $2 billion estimate that’s been floating around is too high, but that’s not to say ISIS isn’t raking in a fair amount of cash–

Modi condemns terror attack on Pakistan side of Wagah border WAGAH: Indian and Pakistani intelligence agencies both picked up plans for an imminent strike on their Wagah land border ahead of a suicide blast that killed 57 people on Sunday, and heightened security, possibly averting a more devastating attack. Pakistani police on Monday said they had recovered a "huge" cache of weapons and explosives near the border, where thousands of Indians and Pakistanis gather at dusk every day to watch a flamboyant ritual parade by their security forces. Pakistani police spokeswoman Nabeela Ghazanfar said the latest death toll was 57 after the bomber detonated explosives in a car park 500 metres (yards) from the border gates and parade ground, just as hundreds of spectators were returning from the ceremony. Pakistani and Indian agents, who are arch-rivals and do not share intelligence, gave conflicting accounts of whether the bomber's true intention was to cause casualties on the In

AFP Photo/Frederick Florin When it comes to dealing with terrorism US intelligence community feels like it operates with one hand tied behind their back because of whistleblowers like Snowden and Manning, intelligence analyst Glenmore Trenear-Harvey told RT. Benjamin Sonntag, Co-founder La-Quadrature du Net, on whistleblowing: "That is obvious [that the latest US whistleblower’s name hasn’t been released] because there is an inquiry in progress. So they would certainly not say anything until they have some kind of proof or some kind of name or arrest that person. What is true is that we have a lot of information saying that there is certainly a second whistleblower. The main problem is that Mr. Obama is continuing his policy which consists of attacking whistleblowers and not protecting them like it should be." RT: Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning quickly became known, didn’t they? Why has this new whistleblower’s identity not been released yet? Glenmore Trenear-Harvey: Ther

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has successfully tested a self-developed laser defense system against small-scale low-altitude drones, state media said on Sunday. The laser defense system is capable of shooting down small aircraft within a two-km (1.2-mile) radius and can do so within five seconds of locating its target, the official Xinhua news agency said, quoting a statement by the China Academy of Engineering Physics. The academy is one of the drone defense system's co-developers, Xinhua said. The reported development comes as concerns about the country's military preparedness are being raised in state media. A front page article in China's official military newspaper last month said that weaknesses in military training posed a threat to the country's ability to fight and win a war. The paper - the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Daily - said in the same report that China's military authorities had sent a document out to units detailing 40 weaknesses in current tra

The proliferation of U.S. government’s economic sanctions against a growing multitude of countries and individuals has created confusion and animosity around the world, driving some countries, like Iran and China, closer together and threatening the future U.S. economy, say Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett. By Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett As the world waits to see if Iran and the P5+1 reach a final nuclear agreement by Nov. 24, we remain relatively pessimistic about the prospects for such an outcome. Above all, we are pessimistic because closing a comprehensive nuclear accord will almost certainly require the United States to drop its (legally unfounded, arrogantly hegemonic, and strategically senseless) demand that the Islamic Republic dismantle a significant portion of its currently operating centrifuges as a sine qua non for a deal. While we would love to be proved wrong on the point, it seems unlikely that the Obama administration will drop said demand in order to close

As U.S. and Western-led airstrikes continue to target Islamic State fighters for control of the Syrian-Turkish border town of Kobane, questions have been raised about the U.S. and Turkey’s 60-year alliance. But even prior to the Islamic State’s push there, Turks have held decidedly negative views of the U.S. going back over a decade, and, additionally, do not much like other foreign powers either. Since we began polling the Turkish people in 2002, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, never have more than three-in-ten said they have a favorable view of the U.S. But anti-Americanism really spiked in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq War, when 83% of Turks held a negative view of America. Today, only 19% in Turkey like the U.S., while nearly three-quarters (73%) share a dislike of their NATO ally. (Unfortunately, we do not have comparable data for American views of Turkey). But Turkish distaste for foreign powers does not begin and end with the U.S. On balance, around two-thirds or more Turks e

Oil pump jacks pump oil in Al-Jbessa oil field in Al-Shaddadeh town of Al-Hasakah, Syria, currently controlled by Islamic State (Reuters / Stringer) The leadership of the Islamic State is headhunting for “ideologically suitable” oil industry professionals to manage oil fields and refineries the terrorist organization has hijacked in Iraq and Syria. The militants of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) that captured Deir ez-Zor oil fields in Syria in 2012, and added the Ajeel and Hamrin oil fields in Iraq in 2014, propose a competitive salary for those daredevils who dare to venture to the territory they control and get the job done. “They are trying to recruit skilled professionals who are ideologically suitable,” Robin Mills, at Manaar Energy, a consultancy firm in Dubai, told The Times . “The money is good but it’s not that good. A Western oil exec posted to Iraq right now, let alone working for ISIS, would expect to earn a lot more than that.” The right applicant with the rare