20 ISIS terrorists killed in major Somalia security operation

By Mohamed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – Security forces of Somalia’s semiautonomous state of Puntland launched a major offensive against ISIS (Daesh) terrorists in the Bari region’s mountainous area, killing 20 terrorists, according to state-run news agency SONNA on Monday.

The operation targeted terrorist hideouts in the Al-Miskad mountains, a stronghold area for ISIS in Somalia’s northeastern Bari province.

Puntland’s counterterrorism operation stated that foreigners were among those killed in the ongoing operation and that security forces captured four terrorist bases.

“In today’s ongoing operation in Al-Miskad Mountains, we killed ISIS terrorists, including foreigners, and captured at least four terrorist bases,” the Puntland counterterrorism operation stated on X.

The statement also mentioned that security forces shot down nine drones that the terrorists were attempting to use during the operation on Monday.

“A large hideout occupied by the terrorists is currently being targeted by the forces,” it added.

The offensive followed the successful repulsion of a Dec. 31 ISIS attack where terrorists used a Vehicle-Borne IED to target a military base.

Somalia has long faced insecurity, primarily from the al-Shabaab and Daesh terrorist groups.

Since 2007, al-Shabaab has been waging an insurgency against the Somali government and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), a multidimensional mission authorized by the African Union and mandated by the UN Security Council.

The group has intensified its attacks since Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared an "all-out war" on al-Shabaab.