Puntland security forces made a surprising discovery when they took control of the remote town of Shebaab. Hidden beneath a vegetable farm, Soldiers uncovered a large, abandoned bunker that they believe was the primary operations center for top leaders of the Islamic State-Somalia group. The Puntland Defence Forces (PDF) found electrical wiring, lights, ventilation pipes, dry food, bedding, medical supplies, fuel and weapons beneath the farm in the remote town of Shebaab on February 24. They also discovered two mass graves in the town “where the terrorists buried some of their senior members,” the PDF posted on social media.
Since it launched a campaign it calls Operation Hilaac in November 2024, the PDF has made steady gains against the terrorist group, also known as ISSOM. Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni announced that the third and final phase of the offensive began on February 28 and aimed to continue using air and ground forces to eliminate ISSOM militants retreating and hiding in remote mountain areas.
“They envisioned it as a place where they cannot be seen, strategically a tough place, and gives them access to the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Gulf,” Deni said on February 27, according to Voice of America.
Deni also announced a weeklong amnesty period for people, including women and children, who previously fought with or supported ISSOM. Those who surrender will be granted an opportunity to reintegrate into society.
As it has marched through valleys, caves and villages in the rugged Cal-Miskaad mountains, the PDF has chased ISSOM from the strategic 40-kilometer-long Togjaceel Valley, from the town of Turmasaale to the village of Dhasaan.
Bolstered by an influx of fighters from Ethiopia, Sudan, Syria, Morocco, Tanzania and Yemen, ISSOM had an estimated 1,600 fighters, according to Somali and Western counterterrorism officials. But Samira Gaid, a Horn of Africa security expert, said ISSOM’s growing numbers combined with the difficult terrain in Puntland’s mountains may have led to overconfidence.
“The miscalculation to face the Puntland forces seemed to have been their folly,” she told VOA, saying that about 500 IS fighters have been killed in the PDF offensive.
“Their mobile special forces have been the pointed end of the spear,” she said. ISSOM has suffered “grave losses and will most likely not be recovering in the short to medium term.”
Rather than holding their positions, ISSOM fighters have broken into three groups and fled in different directions, Somali officials told VOA. About 100 ISSOM fighters and some family members tried to escape to Karinka Qandala, another mountainous area, north of the group’s former stronghold in the Togjaceel Valley. Two larger groups fled to Tog Miraale and Tog Curaar, to the northwest and west, respectively. PDF forces launched airstrikes on the group that went northwest near Miraale village, according to officials.
“Intelligence assessments indicate a high likelihood of attempts to establish new safe havens following their retreat,” according to Brig. Gen. Ahmed Abdullahi Sheikh, former commander of Somalia’s Danab special forces. He has followed the news of PDF’s Operation Hilaac from his home region.
“The offensive, though appearing conventional, has consistently involved guerilla tactics,” he told VOA. “The Togjaceel Valley defeat will likely drive ISIS to intensify asymmetric warfare, launching an attempted at an irregular campaign against Puntland.”
However, Sheikh said he believes the PDF counterterrorism force has the numbers and the resources to carry out a protracted conflict with ISSOM. Puntland’s regional administration also is directly supporting local militia forces, known as Ma’awisley, which have mobilized to defend recently liberated areas from ISSOM militants in the Cal-Miskaad mountains.
The militias, composed mainly of local pastoralists, have long suffered at the hands of ISSOM fighters, according to PDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed.
“The Puntland administration is committed to supporting these local forces to secure their areas and protect them from terrorist threats,” he said, according to Hiiraan Online, a news website.
Whether it’s the PDF or the Ma’awisley, Gaid said maintaining a presence in the mountainous region will be crucial.
“For the moment, it appears that the Puntland forces are committed and well resourced,” she said. “However, much will depend on the Puntland forces then securing and manning the territories it will liberate to ensure the group does not make a comeback.”
Retreating may have given ISSOM time to hide some of its most prominent and most important leaders, as the PDF has found no trace of ISSOM leader Abdulqadir Mumin, who is thought to lead the global IS group. ISSOM operational commander Abdirahman Fahiye Isse and ISSOM finance chief Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf also are in hiding.
“Attempting to melt into the population, though this is difficult, is the natural progression when faced by a force that is superior,” Gaid said.