Aid, bribes may be going to ISIS
Food, medical supplies, and other aid provided by USAID, European donors, and the UN may be being channeled to ISIS, along with money paid to bribe the group to allow convoys through. Unnamed aid coordinator:
The convoys have to be approved by ISIS and you have to pay them: the bribes are disguised and itemized as transportation costs.
The person says the kickbacks are either paid by foreign or local non-governmental organizations that distribute the aid, or by the Turkish or Syrian transportation companies contracted to deliver it. Jonathan Schanzer with the D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies:
I am alarmed that we are providing support for ISIS governance. By doing so we are indemnifying the militants by satisfying the core demands of local people, who could turn on ISIS if they got frustrated.