Iraqi finance minister Hoshyar Zebari said the terrorist group operating in Iraq and Syria, ISIL, has been smuggling oil in these two countries via Turkey.

Iraqi finance minister Hoshyar Zebari said the terrorist group operating in Iraq and Syria, ISIL, has been smuggling oil in these two countries via Turkey.

"They control a number of oil fields in Syria and Iraq and they smuggle this oil overland through trucks, through middlemen to Turkey or towards other countries," Zebari told Al-Jazeera news channel on Friday.

Calling ISIL "the richest [terrorist] group in the world," Zebari said that the Takfiri militants have plundered about USD 500 million from Iraqi cities of Mosul, Tikrit and others.   

He went on to say that Iraqi armed forces are prepared to launch an operation to liberate northern city of Mosul from ISIL terrorist group operating in Iraq and Syria.

He also rejected comments by US officials that the fight against ISIL could take years.

"Contrary to what many people think, I don’t think this will be a long drawn-out battle," the finance minister said.

The comments came as the Iraqi army managed to liberate two key districts in the city of Samarra on Friday.

During the past few days, clashes have intensified between pro-government forces and the ISIL south of Tikrit and around Samarra.

The ISIL launched an offensive in Iraq in June and took control of the country’s second largest city, Mosul, before sweeping through parts of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.