Hiiraan Online
Friday November 3, 2017
Abdulqadir Mumin (C) appears in an ISIS propaganda video. Mumin, a senior Al-Shabab commander in Somalia's Puntland region, leads a small faction of the militant group that pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015.
Mogadishu (HOL) - Unidentified planes have carried out air assaults on ISIS-held area in Northern Somalia on Friday, targeting high-value militant’s commanders, according to witnesses and local officials.
The planes carried out bombardments on Buqa village which is located 60km away from Qandala, a coastal in Somalia's Bari region.
An official in Bari region who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media said the missiles fired by the gunships hit an ISIS outpost where the group's leaders were suspected to be hiding.
“The planes pounded the base in the desert area of Bari region where ISIS has bases,” said the official.
The U.S. Africa Command, in a press release, confirmed that they conducted two separate airstrikes in the region.
"The first strike occurred at approximately midnight local time with
the second separate attack occurring at approx 11am local time."
The statement goes on to say that the U.S. forces will continue to target terrorist threats in Somalia and throughout with all available options on the table.
"U.S. forces will continue to use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect Americans and to disable terrorist threats. This includes partnering with AMISOM and Somali National Security Forces (SNSF); targeting terrorists , their training camps and safe havens throughout Somalia, the region and the world."
It is not yet clear the extent of the damages caused by the airstrikes. Security forces are assessing the results of the strike.
In 2015, a small group of fighters led by Sheikh Abdikadir Mumin, a dual Somali-British citizen pledged allegiance to ISIS. Since then, ISIS-linked fighters have begun to become more visible in the Horn of Africa
nation long threatened by the al-Qaeda-linked- Al-Shabaab.
Last year, the group launched its first raid on Qandala town where they briefly took control of the town before Puntland state forces dislodged them.