Puntland authorities said their forces had made gains against Islamic State fighters in the Cal Miskaad mountains of Somalia’s Bari region, capturing positions and bringing down three drones carrying explosives.
Cabdifataax Maxamed Cabdinuur, a minister of state in the Puntland presidency, described the operations in an interview with VOA Somali. He said Puntland forces were fighting Islamic State in the mountainous area and that several air strikes had also targeted locations used by the group.
According to Cabdinuur, more than 10 foreign fighters were killed in those strikes. He also said regional forces took positions previously held by Islamic State. The casualty figure and the status of the captured sites were presented as Puntland government claims; the supplied reporting did not include independent confirmation from the locations concerned.
The official said Islamic State used three explosive-laden drones in attacks against Puntland forces and that all three were shot down. His account points to the presence of small unmanned aircraft in the confrontation, although the available evidence does not identify the drone models, their payloads or the method used to intercept them.
A separate report by The Somali Digest said Puntland forces had captured six additional strategic positions during the campaign against Islamic State in Somalia. The excerpt supplied with that report did not name the positions or provide enough detail to reconcile its count with the more general account given to VOA.
The operations formed part of a Puntland-led effort in the rugged eastern mountain range. The geography makes claims from active combat areas difficult to verify promptly, and the two supplied reports primarily reflect information from Puntland officials rather than observations by reporters at each site. No response from Islamic State was included in the evidence.
The evidence supports the reported seizure of positions, the Puntland official’s account of strikes and his statement that three weaponised drones were intercepted. It does not substantiate every detail circulated about the offensive. In particular, the supplied excerpts do not verify claims that forces found a cave used for food storage, destroyed improvised explosive devices or hideouts, or captured individual fighters.
Puntland’s account nevertheless describes a campaign combining ground advances and air attacks against established sites in Cal Miskaad. The reported drone interceptions also indicate that regional forces said they faced attacks from the air while advancing. Further independent reporting would be needed to establish the full toll, identify those killed and assess how much territory changed hands. The available accounts also leave unresolved how long the captured positions had been held, whether they remained under Puntland control and what operational effect the reported losses had on the armed group.
