By Alexander Whitcomb

ERBIL - Eleven people have been arrested for smuggling oil produced by the Islamic State (ISIS) through the Kurdistan Region, a senior Kurdish security official announced on Thursday.

Kurdistan Regional Government Interior Minister Karim Sinjari told reporters in Erbil that "so far we have captured 11 individuals charged with smuggling oil with ISIS and our investigation will continue."

He added that "it's still early to reveal their names and the court will decide when to reveal them."

Analysts estimated ISIS was earning as much as $3 million a day in oil sales from fields in Iraq and Syria, although a German intelligence agency reported that this figure was probably closer to $274,000 a day, especially after US-led coalition air strikes to hit oil production and refinery targets in ISIS territory.

Since ISIS toppled Mosul and gained control of a third of Iraq in June, various reports emerged of Kurdish oil traders smuggling oil from ISIS areas in Iraq and Syria into Turkey, Iran, or the Kurdistan Region itself for sale.

Prime Minister Nechervan Barzani told reporters on Wednesday that “smuggling oil to ISIS is considered high treason,” and that his government had “pursued every legal recourse to prevent that.”

Rudaw