Islamic State rigs currency rates in Mosul to prop up finances

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By Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State militants in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul are manipulating the exchange rate between U.S. dollars and Iraqi dinars to squeeze money out of local people as coalition bombers attack the group's finances. * * The U.S-led coalition has said that in addition to attacking Islamic State's fighters and leaders it will go after financial infrastructure too. * * Air strikes have reduced Islamic State's ability to extract, refine and transport oil, a major source of revenue that is already suffering from the fall in world prices. Since October the coalition says it has destroyed at least 10 "cash collection points" estimated to contain hundreds of millions of dollars. * * U.S. military officials say reports of Islamic State cutting fighters' wages by up to half are proof that the coalition is putting pressure on the group.




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