Funds for ISIS Recruitment Came From US, Says Pakistani ISIS Commander

An alleged ISIS leader who was arrested in Pakistan last week has claimed that the terror group received funds routed through the United States to recruit fighters to join the civil war in Syria.

Yousaf al Salafi, believed to be the commander of the Islamic State in Pakistan, was arrested with two others on 22 January, though Pakistan's Express Tribune reports that he was detained in December.

"During the investigations, Yousaf al Salafi revealed that he was getting funding – routed through America – to run the organisation in Pakistan and recruit young people to fight in Syria," a source told Daily Express, a partner newspaper of the Express Tribune.

Salai, a Syrian who allegedly entered Pakistan to establish the ISIS branch there, has claimed to have received $600 for each fighter recruited to go to Syria. He confessed that a Pakistani imam of a mosque was his accomplice in the operation.

The source, who revealed the information to the Pakistani newspaper, also claimed that US Secretary of State John Kerry was briefed about this issue during his visit to Islamabad.

"The matter was also taken up with CENTCOM chief General Lloyd Austin during his visit to Islamabad earlier this month," the source said.

Russian news agency Sputnik cited a source from Pakistan claiming that the US-funding is an 'open secret' in the country.

"This issue was raised several times in the local media and even in the diplomatic corridors between US and Pakistan and there was media reporters here suggesting that hundreds of recruits have been exported to strain from Pakistan," the source based in Islamabad told Sputnik news agency.

"The US funding is an open secret here," he added.