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How Do Terror Groups Finance Their Operations?

Simon Whistler · August 5, 2026 · 18 min video · Global

0:00Locked:2:00–17:42

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What this episode covers

How does a terror group afford hundreds of fighters, trucks, and guns? Same way any government does — taxes. We break down the actual business model of terrorism.

From the transcript

On the evening of Tuesday, the 3rd of February, hundreds of attackers from the terrorist group Boca Huram descended on two Nigerian villages, Waro and Nuku. For weeks, the group put sent letters to the villages, first informing the leadership that they would be coming to preach their version of Sharia law.

Then, when the village leaders asked for soldiers to be deployed, they sent warning letters containing exactly what you would expect a warning letter from a jihadist group to contain.

When the soldiers were eventually withdrawn, Boca Huram struck, sending hundreds of fighters carrying everything from AK-47s to explosives and even pump handle shotguns. Then, the killing began. Over the next few hours, houses were burned, passing cars attacked, and between 100 and 200 villages were killed.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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