Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters under chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi were able to build a similar structure of a modern government in Syria's eastern province of Raqqa in less than a year.

Last year, the Syrian rebels seized the Raqqa province and called it the "Bride of the Revolution”. Raqqa was the first city the rebels conquered since the beginning of the insurgency, Reuters reported.

Like Us on Facebook

In the provincial capital, where about a quarter of a million population live before the Syrian conflict started, the Islamist fighters acquired almost all institutions and public services under their control.

The Islamic state militants eliminated rival insurgents to secure its control in the region. The rebels were able to take control of the city within a year by killing activists that opposed them.

However, some Sunni Muslims who worked for President Bashar al-Assad remained in the capital after they pledged allegiance to the militant group. Some of them now work under the Islamic State as mill workers and flour distributors.

After the initial crackdown, a resident said the group restored and restructured all institutions related to services, including a consumer protection unit and the civil judiciary. This was done to eradicate national boundaries and to establish an Islamic State in the province, the report explained.

An Islamic State commander claimed that they are a state and that they base their ruling on God’s law.

Supporting Islamic State's assertion that it is a government, ISIS leader Baghdadi separated military operations from civilian administration. He assigned fighters only as police and appointed civilian personnel over other institutions.

In Baghdadi’s government, fighters and employees receive a salary from the Muslim Financial House. Apart from it, they also receive housing and an allowance worth US$400 to US$600 every month, according to the report.

Poor families in the region also receive money from the group. A widow may get US$100 for herself and each of her children, one fighter said.

The group also imposed Islamic taxes, or zakat, on wealthy traders and families. Zakat is an Islamic tax imposed by God, a jihadi explained.

Traders who are caught manipulating prices in the market will be punished, warned and shut down if they get get caught again, some sources confirmed.

Based on estimates by analysts, the Islamic State raises tens of millions of dollars through the ransom payments for their hostages and by selling oil to Turkish and Iraqi businessmen.

Tags Raqqa, Iraq