Islamic State attacks military bases in Somalia’s Puntland with car and motorbike bombs

The Islamic State (IS) armed group attacked military bases in Somalia's northeastern Puntland state overnight with suicide car and motorbike bombs, a military official said on Tuesday.

Puntland announced a major offensive against Islamic State and a rival Islamist group, the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab, in December and claims to have since killed dozens of foreign fighters, captured several IS bases and forced a senior commander to surrender.

“Last night after midnight, IS fighters attacked us in the recently liberated bases with suicide car and motorbike bombs. Many IS infantry attacked us, and the fighting is ongoing,” Mohamud Fadhigo, a Puntland military spokesperson, told Reuters.

The IS faction in Somalia has become an increasingly important part of its parent organisation's worldwide network in recent years, and was the target of US air strikes earlier this month.

Somalia's state news agency reported on Tuesday that security forces had repelled attacks on military positions in the Hagaaro and Togo-Jecel areas of Puntland's Cal Miskaad mountains.

With an estimated 700 to 1,500 fighters, the Somalia IS wing has grown in recent years thanks to an influx of foreign fighters and increasing revenues. However, it is much smaller than Al-Shabaab, which controls large parts of southern and central Somalia.

Reuters