Somalia arrests dozens of suspected IS militants

The more than 82 fighters caught were reportedly trained in Somalia’s Puntland region and deployed to coordinate attacks on Ethiopia.

Ethiopia has arrested dozens of suspected Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) militants accused of plotting attacks across the country, state broadcaster Fana reported on Tuesday, citing a statement from the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

According to the outlet, the suspects are members of the Somali branch of IS, known as Daesh, which operates in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region. They were apprehended in a joint operation by Ethiopia’s federal police and regional security forces at locations including the capital Addis Ababa, and in the Oromia and Amhara regions.

“NISS has been closely monitoring the group’s cross-border infiltration strategies and its efforts to establish sleeper cells in Ethiopia,” Fana stated.

The militants were allegedly trained in Puntland and deployed to establish sleeper cells and coordinate attacks inside Ethiopia, according to the statement.

It also reported that operatives were in direct contact with IS and engaged in logistical, financial, and operational support, with some also functioning as intelligence agents and recruiters.

Daesh remains a rival to the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab, Somalia’s dominant terrorist organization, which routinely launches bomb and gun attacks on civilians and military targets in a bid to topple the government and impose its rule. The two factions reportedly clash over territory, ideology, and resources.

Earlier this week, al-Shabaab fighters reportedly seized Tardo, a town in Somalia’s central Hiiran region. In May, the group killed at least ten people in a suicide bombing outside a military base in Mogadishu, just weeks after targeting the convoy of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The assaults have continued despite claims by US Africa Command that American forces have conducted 25 airstrikes against both IS and al-Shabaab in Somalia since President Donald Trump took office in January.

The crackdown comes amid heightened insecurity in Ethiopia’s northern region, where a brutal two-year civil war in Tigray displaced millions and killed well over 100,000 people, according to estimates by the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Although a peace agreement was signed in 2022, tensions persist between federal forces and Tigrayan factions over key issues such as disarmament and territorial disputes remaining unresolved.