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An army of City executives is being commandeered to wage economic warfare against China and Russia.
The battalion of bankers will join a secretive taskforce focusing on protecting British financial infrastructures from foreign attack.
They will also target international revenue streams for terror groups, Russian billionaires with links to president Vladimir Putin and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is believed to fund Middle Eastern terror groups.
The unit’s present activities are classified but are understood to involve targeting Kremlin-linked militias
The taskforce, mainly made up of reservists with City experience, is already working with Special Forces, intelligence agencies and the Army’s 77th Brigade, which specialises in online operations.
The unit is expanding after being used to shut down Islamic State’s financial support networks – a crucial part of the campaign to remove jihadis from Iraq and Syria.
A defence source told The Financial Times: ‘We are not trying to throw middle-aged bankers out of the back of an aircraft on military operations – it is about using their professional skills.’
The unit’s present activities are classified but are understood to involve targeting Kremlin-linked militias