$5m bounty for tips on disrupting ISIS

The war against ISIS is expanding to a new frontier: its finances. As the terror group plunders archaeological sites and oil fields in Iraq and Syria, the United States is offering a $5 million reward for tips to stop the smuggling of gas and antiquities.

The terror group's oil and antiquities trafficking are crucial sources of revenue, the State Department said in a statement announcing the reward.

ISIS makes millions of dollars from the trafficking of oil and antiquities, which helps fund its brutal tactics, US officials said.

"The US Department of State hopes this reward generates information regarding individuals or entities engaged in the production, facilitation, processing, smuggling, distribution, sale and trade of oil and antiquities that benefit ISIL, as well as information regarding smuggling networks, methods and routes," it said.

The terror group uses various acronyms, including ISIL, which stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Experts have described it as the best-funded terrorist organization in history, which draws recruits from all over the world.

The funds are used for various things, including paying the terror group's fighters.

The reward announcement came the same day a bipartisan congressional task force concluded the United States is losing the battle to stop Americans from traveling abroad to enlist in ISIS.

More than 25,000 foreigners have flocked to Syria and Iraq since 2011 to fight with ISIS and other Islamist terrorist groups, according to U.S. estimates.

And despite declining finances, ISIS still boasts of hefty incomes.

Its oil income alone has plunged to $500,000 a day from as much as $1.6 million a day last year, according to risk consultancy group Verisk Maplecroft.

ISIS wants to wipe the west off the face of the earth with a nuclear holocaust according to a journalist who spent ten days with the group while researching a book.

The terror group allowed Jürgen Todenhöfer to embed with the group because he has been a high-profile critic of US policy in the Middle East, reports Mail Online.

The German journalist claimed the terror group wants to launch a 'nuclear tsunami' against the west and anyone else that opposes their plans for an Islamic caliphate.

The 75-year-old former German MP wrote up his findings in a new book 'Inside IS - Ten Days In The Islamic State'.

He said that upon his arrival in ISIS controlled territory, that he and his son were forced to hand over their mobile phones to their hosts.

He said he spent several months talking to the terror organisation over Skype before he was allowed to travel into their area.