GAROWE, Somalia (Reuters) – The Islamic State group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for an attack on a military base in Somalia’s northeastern region of Puntland a day earlier, the group posted on its Telegram channel.
In its statement, Islamic State said the attack was conducted by 12 militants and two booby-trapped vehicles, adding that it killed around 22 military personnel from the Puntland forces and injured dozens of others.
Somali authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.
On Tuesday, security forces in Somalia said they had repulsed an attack by Islamic State suicide bombers on a military base in Puntland, according to the local state broadcaster and a military official.
Captain Yusuf Mohamed, an officer in Puntland’s counter-terrorism forces, told Reuters on Tuesday that nine suicide bombers had been killed and several soldiers had been injured, near the town of Dharjaale in the Bari region.
The group was officially recognised as the Somali province of Islamic State in 2017 and has been based in the mountainous areas of Puntland. For many years, it was considered a minor security threat in the Horn of Africa country compared with al Shabaab, which controls swathes of southern Somalia.
In recent years, however, the Somali franchise has refashioned itself as an important part of the jihadist group’s worldwide network, with its head, Abdulqadir Mumin, being named its global leader by some media outlets.
Security analysts say Islamic State in Somalia has grown in strength because of an influx of foreign fighters and improved revenue through the extortion of local businesses, becoming the group’s “nerve centre” in Africa.
(Reporting by Muhammad Al Gebaly; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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