# Puntland airstrikes mark a widening offensive against militants in Bari
Puntland forces carried out airstrikes on suspected ISIS hideouts in Somalia’s Bari region, according to local reporting, in an operation that underscored how the semi-autonomous state has widened its campaign against armed groups in the mountains north of Garowe.
The strikes were reported on 2025-01-02 and were described as targeting locations believed to shelter ISIS fighters. The account said the Puntland armed forces, including units still fighting ISIS, hit parts of the Bari mountains where militants were said to be based. The reporting also said casualties were being counted as authorities gathered more information.
The offensive matters because Bari has long been a difficult theatre for Puntland’s security forces. The rugged terrain offers militant groups cover, complicates movement and allows them to retreat into remote areas after attacks. In that setting, even limited airstrikes can signal an attempt to disrupt camps and pressure fighters out of familiar hideouts.
The report identified the operation as part of a broader military push against both ISIS and Al-Shabaab. That framing suggests Puntland is trying to keep pressure on more than one armed network at once, even if the immediate strikes were aimed at ISIS positions. The local account also said Puntland had announced a military offensive against the two groups, reinforcing that this was not being treated as a one-off raid.
The evidence supplied in the packet does not provide a final casualty count, and the article should not be read as confirming one. Instead, the key verified point is that Puntland authorities said they had struck suspected ISIS sites and were still assessing the outcome. The reporting also linked the operation to air support from U.S. Africa Command, according to a Puntland counterterrorism spokesman quoted by Voice of America.
That detail, if accurate, would fit a recurring pattern in Somalia’s counterterrorism campaigns: local forces working with outside partners while trying to hold ground in areas where militants can blend into difficult terrain. But the packet does not include an independent corroboration of the air support, so it should be treated as part of the reported account rather than a separately established fact.
The operation in Bari shows how Puntland’s security campaign is being framed not just as a defensive response, but as a sustained attempt to deny militants safe havens. With ISIS and Al-Shabaab both still active in Somalia, the region remains one of the country’s most persistent flashpoints.
