The autonomous state of Puntland has intensified its military campaign against the Islamic State group, which is entrenched in the Cal Miskaad range of the Golis mountains of northeastern Somalia.
After months of preparations, Puntland’s security forces recently launched Operation Lightning, an offensive seeking to dismantle IS-Somalia’s command structure.
The stakes have grown, however, since the United Nations Sanctions Monitoring Team reported in February that there is “growing confidence” that the leader of IS-Somalia, Abdulqadir Mumin, also heads the terrorist group’s global operations as its leader or “caliph.”
Previous U.N. intelligence reports suggested that Mumin had been elevated to lead the IS general directorate of provinces, controlling the group’s African affiliates. But now, assessments from multiple U.N. member states see IS shifting key figures away from Iraq and Syria.
“It may signify a deliberate pivot toward a more decentralized operational structure, further from the core conflict zone,” the report said. IS-Somalia is entrenched in Buur Dhexaad, which the U.N. sanctions monitoring team described as “a strategic base secured by natural caves and defensive structures safe from aerial and ground offensives.”
On February 1, airstrikes by the United States military targeted many of those cave complexes and killed several high-ranking IS commanders, including Ahmed Maeleninine, who was identified as a key financier and recruiter responsible for directing militant movements into the U.S. and Europe.
Puntland says its military has killed more than 200 IS militants, including dozens of foreign fighters, since Operation Lightning began. Information Minister Mohammed Aided said security forces captured 50 bases and 250 square kilometers of territory from IS since the offensive launched on December 31.
“This is an international war on terror,” he told Reuters. “We request the international community to supply with us experts, hardware, anti-mines and anti-drone facilities that can jam drones of terrorists. It is a difficult war.”
Fueled by an influx of foreign fighters, the Somali branch of IS has become significantly more influential under Mumin, a former militant with al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab, which rose to prominence nearly two decades ago during Somalia’s civil war. The U.N. reported that IS-Somalia’s rapid ascension is showing signs of slowing and is having “difficulties in integrating fighters into narrow clan-based structures, cultural barriers and the severity of conditions, leading to sustained defections.”
IS-Somalia also has “employed unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and limited explosive deployment” according to the U.N., with a goal of “building suicide unmanned aerial vehicles.”
On February 3, Abdirahman Shirwac, who lead IS-Somalia’s assassination team, surrendered to security personnel in the Unuun area near the coastal town of Qandala. The head of police in Puntland’s Bari region, Abdikadir Jama Dirir, said the man known as “Laahoor” also led efforts to extort local businesses for the terror group.
“This is a critical hit to their operations,” he said, according to Shabelle Media Network.
On February 4, Puntland forces attacked one of the three remaining IS strongholds and killed at least 24 foreign fighters in the Dharin area, 17 kilometers from Turmasaale.
“Puntland counterterrorism forces are conducting an operation [on February 5] in the area between Qurac and Dharin, as well as the surrounding areas of Togjaceel,” the Army said in a statement. “The forces have already taken control of several bases by force. Many foreign ISIS terrorists have been killed.”
Abdi Hassan Hussein, Puntland’s former chief of police and former head of the region’s intelligence agency, said Operation Lightning is critical for security in Somalia and the Horn of Africa, but fighting could last a long time.
“It is difficult to predict the damage that can be done,” he told Voice of America. “And it is true that the area to be fought is very difficult in terms of traffic, necessitating the troops to carry infantry or guerrilla warfare, which may prolong the war.”
