Islamic State's footprint spreading in northern Somalia: U.N.
A militant faction loyal to Islamic State (IS) has increased its following in northern Somalia from a few dozen last year to up to 200 this year, a U.N. report said, days after the group came under U.S. air attack for the first time.
The increase in strength of the IS spin-off group has attracted attention because some security officials fear it could offer a safe haven for Islamic State militants fleeing military defeat in Syria or Iraq
"The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) faction loyal to Sheikh Abdulqader Mumin - estimated...in 2016 to number not more than a few dozen..., has growing significantly in strength, and (now) consists of as many as 200 fighters," said the report by a panel of U.N. experts obtained by Reuters.
"Even a few hundred armed fighters could destabilize the whole region," said a regional diplomatic security source. "It(air strikes) is a recognition from the U.S. that the situation in terms of the (Islamic State) faction in Puntland is becoming increasingly critical."
"The number of IS fighters in Puntland has increased. Mostly they come from southern Somalia and a few, including foreigners, come from Yemen," Colonel Abdirahman Saiid, a military officer in Puntland, told Reuters.
The U.N. report said defectors from Mumin's faction reported the group had received money and orders from Iraq and Syria, and one member said he had seen Mumin and another leader using TrueCrypt software to communicate with them.
Mumin's group has been slowing increasing its activity over the past year. In late 2016, it occupied the port of Qandala in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region, for a month.
Earlier this year, it carried out its first attacks. Its fighters killed four guards at a hotel in Bosasso, the economic capital of Puntland, in February. The same month, the group beheaded three men it had kidnapped.
Puntland has both ISIS and Al Shabab in it's borders , these two groups have clashed against each other as Al Shabab is loyal to Al Qaeda not ISIS. I say we just nuke Puntland now. It is terrorist loving state whether it's pirates, Shabab, or ISIS. The government profits off these extremists and the world has known about it for years UN even did a report on that.
Where is the napkin?
