At least four civilians were killed when an unidentified military drone struck the Sihan area south of Qandala district in Somalia's Puntland region, according to a local report that said the attack landed near a known ISIS stronghold.
Hiiraan Online reported that the strike took place on Monday in the Bari region and that it targeted ISIS positions in the Al-Miskat mountains, although the immediate toll was civilian. The report quoted Qandala district commissioner Ahmed Khurshe as saying the airstrike was aimed at ISIS positions but resulted in civilian casualties.
The location matters because the Sihan area sits close to territory where ISIS has maintained a presence in the Al-Miskat range. The report framed the incident as part of a wider set of operations around Qandala and the mountain belt, where air activity has repeatedly been tied to efforts to suppress militant holdouts.
What is clear from the supplied evidence is limited. A drone was involved, the aircraft was not identified, and the death toll was at least four civilians. The report did not name the operating force, did not identify the drone's origin, and did not provide a detailed account of whether the intended target was hit. It also did not say whether the strike caused injuries beyond the deaths reported.
That uncertainty leaves the strike politically sensitive as well as militarily significant. If the target was ISIS infrastructure, as the district commissioner suggested, the civilian deaths will deepen scrutiny of how counterinsurgency operations are being conducted in Bari's remote terrain. If the strike was misdirected or poorly timed, it would add to the already high risk faced by residents living near contested routes and suspected hideouts.
The evidence available here does not support further attribution beyond the report that an unidentified military drone carried out the strike. It also does not establish whether the action was part of a Puntland operation, a Somali federal strike, or another campaign altogether. The only safe factual summary is that civilians were killed in a drone strike near an ISIS stronghold in the Sihan area.
The event date attached to the report was January 28, 2025. On that basis, the incident stands as another reminder that operations around ISIS positions in Puntland's Bari region can produce immediate harm far beyond the intended target area, even when the stated aim is to hit militants.
The report also illustrates how little can be verified from a single local account in a fast-moving conflict zone. There is no corroborating casualty list, no independent imagery in the supplied evidence and no statement from the strike carrier. Because of that, the article must avoid claims about responsibility, weapon type or intended target beyond what the report explicitly says.
What can be stated more generally is that the mountain corridor around Qandala remains active enough that even a brief strike can produce civilian deaths. That matters because it shows the human cost of anti-ISIS operations in Bari can extend beyond fighters to residents and people traveling through contested zones.
