Is there any crime more gruesome than this?
The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group appears to have sunk to a deeper level of depravity following reports that it has resorted to selling the children it has kidnapped to its contacts in Turkey who then harvest organs from these children. The reports did not state whether the children end up dead.
The terrorist group has been forced to find whatever ways it can generate funds as the U.S.-led coalition continues to target its financial resources, according to sources.
A local source told Iraqi News that ISIS has sold "dozens of children" to Turkish organ traffickers to be able to sustain its operations in Mosul, its largest stronghold in Iraq.
The source likewise revealed that more than 30 children aged 9 to 12 are currently being held by ISIS and "readied for being trafficked to Turkey."
Aside from selling kidnapped children, ISIS also harvested about 23 human organs from its own members and those being treated in hospitals in Nineveh so they could also be sold, according to Iraqi News.
"Special medical unit of the organisation proceeded to steal human organs for about 23 ISIS militants of those who slept in the hospitals of Nineveh," the source told the online Iraqi news portal.
The source said ISIS militants stole kidneys, intestines and other internal body parts from their victims.
"They were transferred under tight control to affiliated hospital on the outskirts of the city," the source added.
The source explained that ISIS is resorting to organ trafficking because it has lost much of its revenue sources, such as oil fields.
A report from the analysis firm IHS said ISIS is struggling to fund its operations in its self-proclaimed caliphate as revenues from oil fields continue to plunge as a result of the sustained U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on ISIS-held oil fields and other related structures.
IHS said the total ISIS revenue has dropped about 30 percent from last year's earnings.
IHS reports that ISIS revenue from crude sales is down about 26 percent from last year, while the oil production in the region has dropped to 21,000 barrels per day from a previous high of 33,000 barrels per day.
According to CNN, crude oil sales accounted for about 42 percent of ISIS revenue.
