Al Qaida accused of extortion
Al Qaida has increasingly turned to extortion and organised crime to fund its activities, with businesses bearing the brunt of intimidation, US and Iraqi commanders in northern Iraq told AFP.
Mosul: Al Qaida has increasingly turned to extortion and organised crime to fund its activities, with businesses bearing the brunt of intimidation, US and Iraqi commanders in northern Iraq told AFP.
While the number of attacks in Mosul and the surrounding province of Nineveh has dropped and the smuggling of weapons across Iraq's western border with Syria has declined, threats and coercion targeting locals remain commonplace.
"Everyone pays, and no one objects or delays because their vehicles will be seized and their shops closed, until they pay up," said Abdullah Ahmad Ali, who owns a market stall in the Prophet Younis neighbourhood of central Mosul.
Trucks carrying food from Syria or Baghdad are levied a $200 (Dh734) charge, while smaller vehicles incur a $100 fee. Outright refusal is not an option, the 44-year-old Ali said.
"Those who refuse to pay," he added, "end up like Abu Mohammad", a fellow shopkeeper who, according to Ali, reputedly declined to hand over money to the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), Al Qaida's front group.
Abu Mohammad was shot dead, and his son was injured, six months ago.
