U.N.: ISIS made up to $45 million in ransoms this year

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last updated 8 January 2015

A U.N. terrorist-monitoring expert has said that ISIS has received between $35 million and $45 million in ransom payments so far this year.

Yotsna Lalji made the announcement at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee on Monday. Lalji estimated that terrorist groups received $120 million in kidnapping ransoms between 2004 and 2012.

Ransom money is "the core al-Qaida tactic for generating revenue," Lalji said, adding that kidnapping for ransom "continues to grow." She stated that al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb made $75 million in ransoms in the past four years, and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula made $20 million in ransoms from 2011 to 2013.