Ethiopia Arrests 82 Suspected ISIS Militants in Major Anti-Terror Operation

ADDIS ABABA - At least 82 suspected ISIS militants have been arrested in Ethiopia, the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) announced, Wednesday, following a crackdown initiated in different parts of the country, in a bid to bolster counterterrorism efforts.

The militants are said to have crossed over from Somalia following an operation which was initiated in December 2024 and which has spread across the Cal-Miskaad mountains — the former strongholds of the group, which had started spreading wings in Somalia.

The suspects were arrested in Addis Ababa, Amhara, Harari, Central Ethiopia, and the Somali region as part of a “coordinated operation” conducted with federal police and regional security forces, NISS said.

Cities and towns targeted in the sweep include Adama, Shashemene, Haromaya, Jimma, Sheger, Bale, Jigjiga, and Harar, among others. The militants are said to have run away from Somalia after Puntland initiated Operation Lightning.

“Extensive surveillance operation”

According to the NISS statement, the arrests followed “an extended surveillance and intelligence operation” that uncovered efforts by ISIS’s Puntland branch to “expand its terror network into Ethiopia and establish sleeper cells.”

“The suspects were attempting to set up logistical and operational cells to coordinate terror attacks, disseminate extremist propaganda, and provide material support to ISIS’s global network,” the agency said.

Some of those arrested had received training in Puntland and were allegedly tasked with radicalizing vulnerable groups and infiltrating Ethiopian religious institutions to serve as platforms for recruitment and indoctrination.

“Some of the detainees had direct links to ISIS’s international media and financial arms and were actively involved in financing and logistical facilitation,” NISS said, adding that efforts to dismantle the broader network remain ongoing.

In April, Field Marshall Birhanu Jula, the head of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), hinted that there were Ethiopian “traitors” collaborating with terrorist organizations, “enemies of Ethiopia,” including ISIS and al-Shabaab. However, the Army Chief was reserved from providing further details.

The announcement coincided with the designation by the U.S.-led Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) of three ISIS facilitators operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia, and South Africa, Addis Standard reports.

“Today’s joint action underscores our shared commitment to disrupting the ability of ISIS and other terrorist groups to access the international financial system wherever they seek to operate,” said Bradley T. Smith, Acting Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

ISIS militants in Somalia have been significantly degraded after the operation, and most of them are fleeing Puntland, security officials in Garowe had said. Foreign documents were recovered in Cal-Miskaad during the initial phases of the operation.

In February, President Donald Trump announced a US Africa Command precision strike targeting ISIS terrorists, noting that a senior official was killed. Since then, the US, in collaboration with the Puntland regional forces, has carried out multiple airstrikes in the Bari region.

In June this year, Puntland’s regional government admitted the presence of an ISIS operative in the region. Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni has claimed that ISIS-linked militants sought to transform the Cal-Miskaad Mountain range in northeastern Somalia into a global coordination center for terrorism, but said the plot was thwarted by Puntland’s security forces.

GAROWE ONLINE