Only ten days after the town of Shaddadi in Syrian Kurdistan was liberated from the ISIS militants, RT Doc film crew followed Kurdish soldiers round the houses that had been abandoned in haste by fleeing jihadists. There they found documents shedding light on ISIS oil trade, jihadist passports with Turkish entry stamps, an instructional brochure on how to wage war against Syrian government that was printed in Turkey and more.
Shaddadi and the area has large natural oil reserves, and until recently, ISIS militants profited from it, forcing local population to work in their oil industry. Piles of detailed invoices used by ISIS to calculate daily revenues from selling oil were found on the site. Local residents attested that intermediaries from Raqqa and Aleppo arrived to pick up the oil and often mentioned Turkey. While a captured ISIS recruit said on camera that the terrorist group sells oil to Turkey. He and another foreign fighter from Saudi Arabia also said it had been easy to pass the Turkish border.
The full documentary with exclusive footage from towns liberated from ISIS, will air in April. It will feature interviews with the locals who worked on ISIS oil refineries as well as testimonies from the ISIS members, captured by Kurdish YPG (People's Protection Units) soldiers. Tune in to learn what RT Doc crew discovered in the oil-rich lands that only days ago were under ISIS occupation.