An alleged ISIS member who is thought to be a Pakistani commander named Yousaf al-Salafi, has said that the terror group receives regular funding from the United States.
Al-Salafi has confessed to the Pakistani ISI intelligence agency, that he has received funds for the terror group via U.S. funders.
Al-Salafi was arrested in Lahore, along with two companions, on January 22, according to the news agency, the AFP.
“During investigations, Yousaf al Salafi revealed that he was getting funding – routed through America – to run the organization in Pakistan and recruit young people to fight in Syria,” the Urdu-language Daily Express reported from a source in the ISI, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The news agency’s sister newspaper The Express Tribune said that he has been receiving around $600 per person he sends to Syria for training.
“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. 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,” the source reported.
Still, Al-Salafi did not specify who he has been receiving funds from in the U.S., though the implications were that it was funding given via government sources.
“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 train from Pakistan,” the anonymous Pakistani intel source told the Sputnik news agency.
Reuters reported last week that Al-Salafi’s identity is a terror leader who comes from a Pakistani-Syrian background. He came to Pakistan via Turkey only five months ago, and quickly established an ISIS cell there which has flourished and carried out attacks against Shiah Muslims.