Armed groups and militias
Islamic State in Somalia (ISS), 2015 to now
The Islamic State in Somalia is an armed group based in the mountains of Bari region in Puntland. It began in October 2015, when Abdulqadir Mumin, then an al-Shabaab commander, and a small number of fighters pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The Islamic State recognised it as a province in December 2017. UN and US officials described it as a financial hub for the Islamic State in Africa. Puntland forces began Operation Hilaac against it in January 2025 and took most of its mountain bases.
In short
The Islamic State in Somalia (ISS) is much smaller than al-Shabaab, which it split from and which has fought it since 2018. Its base is the Cal Miskaad (al-Miskaad) and Golis mountains of Bari region, in Puntland. This page records what UN, US, Puntland and research sources say about it, without taking sides.
Origins, 2012–2017
Wikipedia, drawing on studies in West Point's CTC Sentinel, records that al-Shabaab sent Abdulqadir Mumin to Puntland in 2012 to recruit. When the local commander Mohamed Said Atom left for the government in 2014, Mumin took over the group (Wikipedia, Islamic State – Somalia Province).
In October 2015 Mumin pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State's leader. Only about 20 of some 300 local fighters followed him at first. The Islamic State recognised the group as its "Somalia Province" in a video released on 25 December 2017 (same source).
Leaders
- Abdulqadir Mumin, leader from 2015. Wikipedia lists him as emir until 2023 (Wikipedia).
- Abdirahman Fahiye Isse Mohamud, listed as emir from 2023 (same source).
- Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf, head of finance from 2019, designated by the US Treasury in February 2025 (US Treasury, 8 February 2025).
- Deputies killed: Mahad Maalin (killed by al-Shabaab, October 2018) and Abdihakim Mohamed Ibrahim "Dhoqob" (US air strike at Xiriiro, Bari, 14 April 2019) (Wikipedia).
Size, by year
Estimates vary widely and come from different observers (Wikipedia, which cites each):
| Year | Estimate | Who estimated |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | about 20 | Founding accounts |
| 2016 | up to 300 | Experts |
| 2017 | about 200 | United Nations |
| 2018 | 100–300 | CTC Sentinel |
| 2024 | 600–700 | UN Security Council report |
| 2025 | 600–700, some up to 1,600 | CTC Sentinel, May 2025 |
In October 2024 the US Africa Command commander, General Michael Langley, said the group had doubled in a year (Voice of America, 1 October 2024). By 2024 roughly half its members were reported to be foreign, mostly from Ethiopia, elsewhere in East Africa and Yemen (Wikipedia).
Main events
- 26 October–7 December 2016. The group held the port town of Qandala until Puntland forces retook it.
- 8 February and 23 May 2017. Attacks in Bosaso, including a suicide bombing near the Juba Hotel that killed five.
- November 2017. First US air strikes against it, in the Buqo valley east of Bosaso.
- December 2018. Al-Shabaab declared war on it; the two have clashed since.
- 25 January 2023. A US raid in northern Somalia killed Bilal al-Sudani, a senior Islamic State finance official.
(Wikipedia, citing CTC Sentinel, Reuters and Voice of America)
Money
UN monitors reported in 2023 that the group's "al-Karrar" office sent about US$25,000 a month in cryptocurrency to the Islamic State in Afghanistan, and later called it that branch's largest donor. In February 2018 the US Treasury designated a Bosaso-based financier and two companies said to have funded it (Wikipedia). Puntland said it was looking into gold mining in Cal Miskaad as a source of money (same source). The UN Panel of Experts reported that after a violent change of leadership in late 2018 the faction began extorting "taxes" from Puntland businesses, and that it fought al-Shabaab in Puntland and Mogadishu in 2018–2019 (UN Panel of Experts, S/2019/858). Its 2023 report said operations were largely confined to Bari and that Bilal al-Sudani's death in January 2023 was a setback for the group (S/2023/724).
Operation Hilaac, 2025
In January 2025 Puntland launched Operation Hilaac ("Lightning"), sending about 3,000 troops into the Cal Miskaad mountains. A second phase was announced on 30 January 2025, and the US carried out a major strike against the group on 1 February 2025 (Daisy Muibu and Yayedior Mbengue, CTC Sentinel, May 2025). During January the group used at least seven roadside bombs and two drone attacks, according to ACLED data cited in the same study. Puntland forces took many of its bases during 2025, though reports say it kept some villages near Bosaso (Wikipedia).
Sources differ
- Size. Estimates for 2024–2025 range from about 100 to 1,600 fighters.
- Who leads. Some reports describe Mumin as leader of the Islamic State's wider network in Africa; others say leadership passed to Abdirahman Fahiye in 2023.
Read the primary sources yourself
- CTC Sentinel (West Point), Weiss and Webber, "Islamic State-Somalia: A growing global terror concern" (2024): article.
- US Treasury, designation of a senior ISIS-Somalia financier (2025): press release.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Islamic State – Somalia Province · en.wikipedia.org
- US Treasury, 8 February 2025 · home.treasury.gov
- Voice of America, 1 October 2024 · voanews.com
- UN Panel of Experts, S/2019/858 · documents.un.org
- S/2023/724 · documents.un.org
- Daisy Muibu and Yayedior Mbengue, CTC Sentinel, May 2025 · ctc.westpoint.edu
- article · ctc.westpoint.edu
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