Comparing Sunni and Shi’a Rebel Financing in Iraq: Case Studies of ISIS and Kataib Hezbollah
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The financial assets of rebel groups vary significantly. This article uses the results of comparative case studies to investigate the similarities and differences between Sunni and Shi’a paramilitary-organisation funding sources in Iraq. It examines various categories of resource mobilisation in the post-2014 Iraqi crisis, concentrating on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a predominantly Sunni militant force, and Kataib Hezbollah (KH), a Shi’a paramilitary organisation. It finds that ISIS had access to a vast array of financial resources, albeit not on a sustained basis, while KH appears to have had more constrained, though permanent, revenue options.
Source: Civil Wars
Author: Shirwan Hamid Muhammed
Institution: Leipzig University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7212138563