The effort to cut off the illicit cash flow to arsonist groups have resulted to terrorist groups becoming secretive in their finance sources, and terrorist started financing their activities through legal, financial institutions. When terrorists realize the effort to cut off their illicit cash flow, they also become secretive to their members and the public concerning their sources of funding (Bolz et al., 2016). Secretive makes it so challenging to combat illicit financing. Arsonist also funds their activities through legitimate ways which also make it difficult to mitigate terrorist funding.
Combating the sources used by arsonist groups to raise money for their activities is a significant challenge facing non-states and state actors in the war against terrorism (Faluyi & Akinola, 2019). This is because arsonist organizations rely on a wide range of resources to recruit new members and conduct their activities. Arsonists also greatly depend on resources for several reasons. Some of the reasons include; quantity, which gives arsonist organizations the power to be significantly effective and helps them operate and carry out their activities worldwide. Other causes include; legitimacy, security, reliability, control, and simplicity. Terrorist groups fund their activities through illegal activities. These illegal means are based on the belief that arsonists are involved in several activities, including counterfeit smuggling goods, kidnapping for ransom, extortion, and petty crimes (Campana & Varese, 2018). Arsonists, such as the Taliban, Al-Shabaab, Irish, and Tamil Tigers, primarily engage in these illicit activities to carry out their missions. The terrorist also uses legal actions to fund missions. Arsonists like Aum Shinrikyo in Japan and Al-Qaeda engage in legitimate activities such as honey factories, farming, bakeries, and printing and copying businesses for profit-making. Terrorist as well depends on groups and individuals sympathetic for funding.
