Paris attackers spent $7,500

The militants who killed 130 people in Paris, triggering waves of airstrikes on Syria and security alerts around the world, may have spent as little as around $7,500 to stage their attacks.

World leaders scrambled to crack down on terrorist financing after the Nov. 13 assaults, which have been claimed by Islamic State (ISIS) in retaliation for strikes on Iraq and Syria.

Within days, France and Belgium announced 1 billion euros worth of additional security measures.In contrast, the attacks themselves, requiring little more than Kalashnikovs and ammunition, homemade suicide belts, rental cars and apartments, suggest that the eight attackers spent relatively little to kill indiscriminately and sow fear and confusion.

The September 11 attacks on Washington and New York cost between $400,000 and $500,000, according to the independent 9/11 Commission, a sum that covered pilot training for the hijackers, flights and living expenses over an extended period of training and preparation.

A Reuters calculation has estimated the Paris attacks could have cost less than around 2 per cent of that.Reuters was unable to reliably calculate certain costs including the sum for any accomplices who may have come from outside France and Belgium. These costs were not included in the total.

The most sophisticated part of the attack, making the suicide vests, would have only required some cheap materials. Security sources said this job would have fallen to an experienced bomb-maker who was likely not to have been one of the actual attackers.

All seven dead assailants in Paris were wearing and used suicide belts, with identical TATP detonation compound, a battery and a blow-up button, the French police said.

TATP — or “Mother of Satan” as it is known in security circles — can be made from basic household products.The chemical ingredients are available at pharmacies for as little as 5-10 euros for each belt, and the bolts used in the belts of the three Stade de France attackers would have cost about 150 euros for 500 bolts each in a DIY store.

There were at least eight attackers and their two Paris apartments could have come to around 680 euros.The Volkswagen Polo, Seat Leon and Renault Clio cars that investigators say were rented to bring the militants from Brussels to Paris would have cost around 595 euros from a major car rental agency, assuming they were rented for one week, including petrol and tolls. A Kalashnikov can be acquired in the European Union for between 300 and 700 euros.