Waging an economic war against the Islamic State

Washington

THE Islamic State starts the new year with a drastically depleted bank account, counterterrorism officials say, following months of intensified efforts to deprive the Islamists of oil profits and other revenue used to finance military operations and terrorists attacks abroad.

Coalition aircraft in the past 15 months have destroyed more than 1,200 tanker trucks - including 168 vehicles struck in a single air raid in Syria in early December - while also using new weapons and tactics to inflict lasting damage on the terrorists' remaining oil fields, US and Middle Eastern officials say.

The military strikes are being paired with new measures intended to shut down financial networks used by the Islamic State to procure supplies and pay its fighters, the officials say. Two weeks ago, the US and Iraqi governments announced the first coordinated effo…