Bosaso, Somalia – Puntland forces have intensified operations against the Islamic State group in northern Somalia after a renewed surge in militant activity raised concerns that the group is trying to rebuild in the mountains of the Bari region.
The US-based Critical Threats Project said in an analysis this week that Puntland forces had increased counter-IS operations since mid-April and were on course to conduct their highest monthly number of operations in May 2026 since November 2025.
The renewed push forms part of Operation Hilaac, a campaign Puntland launched in late 2024 to target Islamic State Somalia Province, also known as ISS, in the Cal-Miskaad and Golis mountain ranges.
CTP said Puntland forces severely weakened the group during the first year of the operation, killing or capturing many fighters and pushing the remaining militants into a limited number of mountain valleys in rural Puntland.
But the campaign slowed in late 2025 and early 2026, giving the militants room to regroup, the analysis said.
IS fighters then increased attacks in March and kept up a higher tempo of activity in May after a brief lull in April.
The group also attacked Bosaso, Puntland’s commercial capital and largest port city, for the first time since September 2025 in late March, according to CTP.
Renewed pressure
Puntland’s latest operations suggest that the authorities now see the group’s recovery as a serious threat, particularly around Qandala and the surrounding coastal and mountain areas.
CTP said Puntland forces had been as active against IS around Qandala in May as they were during the peak of Operation Hilaac in 2025, indicating that the militants had rebuilt part of their presence there.
The group’s ability to survive reflects the difficulty of fighting in Puntland’s mountainous terrain, where militants can move between caves, valleys and remote settlements while avoiding conventional security operations.
CTP said the group’s ties with some local communities, its mobile bases and the difficulty of maintaining a permanent security presence in rural areas had made it hard to fully defeat.
The United States and the United Arab Emirates have supported Puntland forces with air support, including airdrops and airstrikes in difficult terrain, according to CTP.
US Africa Command said it carried out an airstrike targeting ISIS-Somalia on May 6 near the Golis Mountains, about 75 kilometres southeast of Bosaso.
New America’s Future Security Programme said AFRICOM had confirmed 63 strikes in Somalia in 2026 as of May 29, although it noted that tracking strikes in Somalia remains difficult because several actors operate in the country’s airspace.
US air support
Washington has repeatedly targeted IS positions in Puntland, including a major strike in February 2025 that President Donald Trump said targeted a senior Islamic State attack planner and other militants.
“These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies,” Trump said at the time.
“The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians,” he added.
Somalia Today could not independently verify those details.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud thanked Washington after the strike, saying Somalia valued “the unwavering support of the United States in our shared fight against terrorism”.
“Your bold and decisive leadership, Mr President, in counterterrorism efforts is highly valued and welcomed in Somalia,” he said.
Puntland’s then information minister, Mohamud Aidid Dirir, said the strikes hit IS bases in the Cal-Miskaad mountains.
“The number of casualties is still unknown, as it was dark. But our forces on the frontline could hear the sound of explosions,” he told Reuters.
Global network
The renewed concern over IS in Puntland goes beyond northern Somalia.
CTP said the Somalia branch remains a key node in the global Islamic State network, helping move money, trainers, foreign fighters and logistics between IS affiliates in Africa and beyond.
The group’s leader, Abdulqadir Mumin, has long operated from Puntland. Some UN member states believe he may now be the overall leader of the Islamic State, although CTP and several analysts assess that he is more likely to hold a senior role overseeing IS regional affiliates.
Mumin also leads the Somalia-based East Africa office known as al-Karrar, which CTP says has supported IS affiliates in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Analysts have also linked the network to financial support for Islamic State Khorasan Province, the Afghanistan-based affiliate known for transnational attack planning.
The renewed activity in Puntland, therefore, raises wider security concerns at a time when Somali and international forces already face several competing crises.
Puntland faces the return of Somali piracy, renewed political tensions with the federal government and pressure on the same maritime forces that have played a central role in both counter-piracy and counterterrorism.
CTP said those challenges could limit the resources available for counter-IS operations and allow the group to rebuild further.
For Puntland, the challenge is no longer only to clear IS from caves and valleys. It is to sustain enough pressure to prevent the group from turning northern Somalia back into a durable base for a global jihadist network.