Terrorists investing in stocks to raise funds: Study

Terrorist organisations are increasingly investing in stock exchanges across the world to raise funds for their operations, a British study has revealed.

Conducted by the Sakinah Campaign in Britain, which campaigns against online radicalisation, the study found that such investments are mainly made in countries where there is a lack of financial controls and supervision, Arab News reported Thursday.

These organisations use bogus names while making investments and they are involved in clothes and textile trading in certain countries, the study said.

This showed a clear shift in strategy after reliance on drug-trafficking and seeking ransoms from European and American countries for kidnapped hostages, Sakinah Campaign officials said in a statement.

These organisations have turned to e-commerce after the crackdown by governments across the world on individuals and organisations raising funds for these groups, it added.

Their activities are difficult to detect as they can operate from remote locations.

Traders, having a high degree of technical and financial knowledge, are operating in stock exchanges for extremist groups, it said.