The number of Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL)-linked jihadists in northern Somalia is “growing significantly in strength,” reaching up to 200 terrorists already this year, the United Nations reported a few days after U.S. airstrikes targeted the terrorist group for the first time in the African country.
In March, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the chief of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), warned that ISIS-affiliated terrorists were beginning to “make inroads into Somalia,” adding that the group could potentially “gain a stronger foothold in the country” absent any military action.
Last Friday, the U.S. military carried out its first airstrikes against ISIS militants in Somalia, reportedly killing an estimated 20 terrorists.
Reuters acknowledges that some security officials in the country have expressed concern that Somalia may provide sanctuary for ISIS terrorists fleeing military defeat in Iraq and Syria.
“The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL] faction loyal to Sheikh Abdulqader Mumin—estimated … in 2016 to number not more than a few dozen … [is] growing significantly in strength, and [now] consists of as many as 200 fighters,” reveals a U.N. report obtained by Reuters.
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