Thursday August 21, 2025
Muthar Hamid Qaayid, a Yemeni national captured in Puntland and accused of being an ISIS sniper and bomb-maker, is interviewed under guard in Bosaso. Qaayid told reporters he has no regrets about joining the militant group. (Credit: Sky News)
Mogadishu (HOL) — Two foreign ISIS fighters captured in Puntland have given rare interviews, showing no remorse for joining the extremist group, even as one awaits execution by firing squad. Their accounts shed light on the multinational network entrenched in Somalia’s northeast mountains, where militants from across the globe have taken root.
Muthar Hamid Qaayid, a 24-year-old Yemeni national accused of serving as a sniper and bomb-maker, laughed when asked if he regretted his actions.
“I don’t regret anything,” he said. “Even if you take me out of the room now and execute me, I don’t regret anything. If they shoot me or hang me, I don’t mind.”
Qaayid was captured after his partner detonated a bomb prematurely in Bosaso’s city center, killing himself when security forces closed in. Officials said Qaayid was injured in the blast and caught with bomb-making equipment. He insisted he did not press the trigger, insisting, “I didn’t come here to kill Muslims.”
Despite his denials, Puntland security officials described Qaayid as more than a foot soldier. They allege he trained in long-range shooting and reconnaissance, and that he belonged to a two-man squad preparing further attacks in the region.
The second detainee, Usman Bukukar Bin Fuad of Morocco, told authorities he came to Somalia under false promises of employment but was forced into ISIS service in the Al Miskaad Mountains.
“They told me I would make money, but I ended up digging caves,” he said. “When they ordered me to put on a suicide vest to kill Puntland forces, I refused and fled.”
Puntland officials dismiss his version of events, saying Fuad was armed and underwent training in sniping and map reading before their December offensive.
Fuad said he met ISIS’s Somalia leader, Abdul Qadir Mumin, several times. Mumin, a former al-Shabaab cleric, has been the U.S.-designated head of ISIS in Somalia since 2016. Fuad described him as a visible presence who “encouraged fighters to keep going and promised them paradise.” His comments reinforce assessments that Mumin is alive and active.
Usman Bukukar Bin Fuad, a Moroccan national captured in Puntland and accused of joining ISIS, sits in detention in Bosaso. Fuad claims he was deceived into traveling to Somalia but Puntland officials say he received weapons training. (Credit: Sky News)Puntland authorities have displayed evidence showing ISIS’s reach far beyond Somalia. Passports recovered from caves used by militants included those from South Africa, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Bahrain, as well as identity cards belonging to Europeans.
“Of the 600 fighters the forces have
killed, only five have been Somalis. The rest have been foreigners,” said Mohamed Abdirahman Dhaban’ad, Puntland’s political affairs representative.
Fuad said he traveled to Somalia from Ethiopia with six other Moroccans and encountered recruits from Tunisia, Libya, Tanzania, Kenya, Turkey, Argentina, Bangladesh, Sweden, and Iraq. “The main target or focus was to rule the world,” he said. “Starting with this region as one of the gates, then Ethiopia and beyond.”
The offensive in the Al Miskaad Mountains, one of ISIS’s main bases in Africa, has been underway for eight months. Officials say the campaign has reduced the group’s presence, but the foreign fighter pipeline has left Puntland facing one of its most difficult battles since the rise of al-Shabaab more than a decade ago.
Puntland’s stance on dealing with captured ISIS fighters has fluctuated in recent months. In early January, security officials announced that foreign militants hiding in the Al Miskaad Mountains would
not be granted amnesty, while local recruits were urged to surrender. Days later, the government clarified that
amnesty remained open to both Somali and foreign fighters who laid down arms, stressing that repatriation efforts were being coordinated with international partners.