Somalia’s Puntland Security Force (PSF) announced they killed several Islamic State (IS) fighters and captured eight jihadist camps during current military campaigns in the semi-autonomous Puntland territory.

Somali military officials expressed that the following procedure in the northern province was focused around the Cal Miskat mountains in the Bari area.

“The security forces took control of eight IS military outposts including a major one in the Cal Miskat mountains; several gunmen including foreign fighters had been killed in the military operations,”

the Puntland army stated in a statement.

“The army shot down around nine drones loaded with explosives which IS tried to attack and detonate on the security forces during the fighting.”

Ahmed Rage, a military leader in the area, said heavy fighting was taking place as the IS “militias took positions inside a cave in the mountain.” Still, he counted that the army was making “progress and continues to advance onto the stronghold positions..”

Current Status of IS in Somalia:

In Somalia, IS has a relatively small existence compared to Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab, but experts have cautioned against the growing movement. A United Nations counter-terrorism official last year alerted of increased raids by IS companions in Mozambique, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

IS’s presence in Somalia has greatly increased, with an estimated group doubling in size within the past year. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) reports that IS fighters in northern Somalia have been increasing, thereby heightening fears about the spread of the organization and its foreign recruitment. 

The recent rise of the Islamic State in Somalia poses a dual challenge: it not only threatens the stability of the region but also feeds into the larger global landscape of terrorism. The group’s ability to execute coordinated attacks and keep its operational capabilities points to its resilience despite continued military pressures from both local forces and international partners.