Somali government forces have neutralized seven militants belonging to ISIS in Somalia’s semi-autonomous northern Puntland region on Saturday.
The Somali forces have begun an offensive towards the port town of Qandala, which the terrorist group captured last month and became the first ISIS stronghold in the impoverished country.
According to the head of the Puntland military unit, Captain Mohamed Saiid, ISIS carried out an attack on the village of Bashaashin, close to Qandala.
Saiid further said that the militants “retreated to a hill outside the village,” after Somali forces recaptured it and seized a large cache of weapons. He vowed that his forces would continue fighting the militants till they are eliminated from Qandala.
The group is thought to be led by Abdiqadir Mumin, who broke away from the much larger al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab terrorist group last year and pledged allegiance to ISIS, PressTV explained.
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