ISIS branch in Somalia poses danger to the world, US says

WASHINGTON - The United States has for the first time admitted the capabilities of the IS-Somalia militants, a group majorly found in northeastern Somalia within the state of Puntland where it carries sporadic attacks against locals.

For some time, it has been established that the group trains foreign fighters but intelligence teams have underestimated it, instead focusing on rival Al-Shabaab which threatens the stability of the region. Al-Shabaab controls most parts of Somalia.

But top US officials are now concerned with ISIS militants in Somalia's growing influence, noting that it has the financial capabilities to host the ISIS global leaders. The group’s origin is in the Middle East.

Top IS leaders “view Africa as a place where they should invest, where they are more permissive and able to operate better and more freely, and they want to expand,” according to a senior U.S. defense official. “So, they did bring the caliph to that region.”

“The caliph provides strategic direction, which we view as allowing them to develop and expand, even more so than we would expect,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence matters.

According to VOA, there have been rumours that IS emir Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, traveled from Syria or Iraq and then through Yemen to the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia in the country’s northeast. It also follows warnings from multiple Somali security officials that IS-Somalia has grown stronger, due in part to an influx of fighters and operatives from Yemen.

As evidence of the magnified U.S. focus on IS in Somalia, a second U.S. official confirmed to VOA on Monday that an airstrike late last month in the vicinity of Dhaadaar, 81 kilometers southeast of the city of Bosaso, targeted IS-Somalia leader Abdulqadir Mumin.

Initial assessment indicated that the airstrike killed Mumin, although the pronouncement is yet to be authenticated. The airstrike, however, wounded at least three Somalis and three foreigners according to reports.

But senior Somalia security officials believe Mumin may have escaped unhurt since he dwells in regions where telecommunication devices do not work. Regardless of the outcome of the strike, U.S. officials say their focus will not waver.

“We would absolutely say, unequivocally, that we’ve got to keep our eye on the terrorist threat,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters Monday, referencing the strike in Somalia.

“It’s clear that the threat is still real, and we have to still go after it,” he said.

But word that IS, also known as ISIS or Daesh, has sent its global leader to Somalia, along with reports that Mumin himself may have been elevated to the position of caliph, is being met with skepticism from some former counterterrorism officials and analysts.

“The importance of Mumin, ISIS-Somalia, ISCAP [Islamic State Central Africa Province], and the al-Karrar office is not in doubt,” said Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former senior United Nations counterterrorism official who currently serves as a senior adviser for the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project.

“But ISIS is a profoundly racist organization, and they like to claim that the caliph is descended from Muhammad,” he told VOA. “I don’t believe they are ready for an African caliph.”

GAROWE ONLINE