Somalia Region Plans New Offensive Against Islamic State
- Number of Islamist group’s combatants has more than doubled
- Somalia-based group’s head may be Islamic State global leader
The semi-autonomous region of Puntland is planning a new offensive to combat a growing Islamic State insurgency in Somalia’s mountainous north.
The Islamist group, designated as a terrorist group by the US, has more than doubled in size this year, with as many as 1,200 combatants holed up in the Bari mountains east of the Puntland capital, Bosaso, according to a local security official. The US military has expressed concern about Islamic State’s growing presence in the region.