Security forces in Somalia confront Islamic State militants

Islamic State is expanding its operation in northern Somalia, a Sky News report said, despite efforts from Somali forces to tackle the rising threat.

The fighting is being mostly carried out by forces in the semi-autonomous Puntland region and it has been substantial, as soldiers in this remote area have faced obstacles including harsh terrain, ambush attempts, and hidden explosive devices.

They have made gains, Sky reported, uncovering a network of caves and bunkers including a bomb factory making bombs to be attached to drones, rockets and suicide vests.

Soldiers recovered large stashes of unused rockets and homemade bombs, and found evidence that IS is working with other extremist groups like the Houthis in Yemen, Sky reported.

"I am confident that there is, to an extent, a cooperation between the two," Colonel Ali Dirane, a Battalion Commander told Sky.

"We have found letters that indicate there is correspondence between IS and the Houthis."

Somali soldiers also recovered other goods such as sophisticated medical equipment.

In their raids through local villages where IS had set up base, soldiers found IS flags and boards outlining the group's strict set of Sharia law rules.

Sky reported that thousands of villagers had fled their homes and had been too afraid to come back even after Somali forces drove them out of the area.

Puntland's army chief Brigadier General Adan Abdi Hasa has raised the alarm, warning international forces needed to get involved.

He also stressed that the issue isn't a localised problem.

In February, the US military conducted airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia, the first attacks in the African nation during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Growing threat

The IS affiliate in Somalia emerged in 2015 as a breakaway faction from al-Shabab, al-Qaida’s East African link, and is most active in Puntland, particularly in the Galgala Mountains, where it has established hideouts and training camps and is led by Abdulkadir Mumin.

While its influence is relatively limited compared to Al-Shabaab, IS in Somalia has been involved in attacks in southern and central Somalia.

The group funds its activities through extortion, smuggling, and illicit taxation, particularly in some coastal areas where it has attempted to control local businesses.

Despite facing counterterrorism pressure from Somali security forces, US airstrikes and al-Shabab rivalries, it continues to operate in remote and urban areas, seeking to expand its influence through recruitment and propaganda.

The number of IS militants in the country are estimated to be in the hundreds, mostly scattered in the Cal Miskaat mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, according to the International Crisis Group.

The threat from Islamic State and al-Qaida extremists and their affiliates is most intense in parts of Africa, and risks are growing in Syria, which both groups view as a “a strategic base for external operations,” UN experts said in report released last month.

Their report to the UN Security Council said West Africa's al-Qaida-linked Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslim in group, known as JNIM, and East Africa's al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab have continued to increase the territory under their control.

The experts monitoring sanctions against the two groups said “the organization’s pivot towards parts of Africa continued" partly because of Islamic State losses in the Middle East due to counterterrorism pressures.