Over 20 people were killed and more than 10 others wounded during two days of fighting between Islamic State fighters and security forces from Somalia’s Puntland region, officials said Tuesday.
In an interview with VOA’s Somali Service, a spokesperson for Puntland security operations, Brigadier General Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed, said that 15 Islamic State militants and seven Puntland soldiers were killed in the clashes Sunday and Monday.
Ahmed said IS fighters used improvised explosive devices to protect their hideouts near the Ufeyn area. As soldiers were clearing landmines, one of the devices exploded, killing six soldiers and wounding three, he said.
The spokesperson said that during the operation, soldiers killed eight Islamic State militants.
Ahmed said the latest military operation, which centered around the Cal Miskat mountains in the Bari region, continued through Monday.
“On Monday, our soldiers encountered the terrorist fighters around Laba-Afle area, killing seven of them. One of our soldiers was also killed and four others injured,” he said.
Residents, who requested anonymity fearing for their lives, told VOA they saw the bodies of militants strewn along the roads leading into the Cal Miskat mountains.
Puntland began a military offensive last month against extremist groups in the region following months of preparations.
The region’s leader, Said Abdullahi Deni, appealed to the public to support the operation, which he said is aimed at dislodging the Islamic State militants from their hideouts in mountainous areas.
Puntland has endured terrorist attacks perpetrated by al-Shabab and Islamic State militants, but the ongoing military operation appears to be focused on IS.
The group has a relatively small presence in Somalia compared to the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, but experts have warned of growing activity.
U.S. military officials and Somali security experts reported that IS increased its membership numbers in Somalia last year.
The group was previously estimated to have between 100 and 400 fighters, but Somali security and intelligence experts estimate their current numbers to be 500 to 600 militants.
Most of the newcomers are said to be from the Middle East and eastern and northern Africa.
IS in Somalia was formed in October 2015 by a group of former al-Shabab fighters led by the cleric Sheikh Abdulkadir Mumin, who reportedly pledged allegiance to the late IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Mumin appears to have survived a U.S. airstrike on May 31, 2024.
A United Nations counterterrorism official last year warned of increased attacks by Islamic State affiliates in Somalia, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
