On Feb. 24, 2025, members of the Puntland Defense Forces posed next to a sign in Arabic that proclaimed the mountain town of Sheebaab as a 'province' of the Islamic State group. The town, located in Somalia's autonomous northeastern region of Puntland, was one of numerous areas that soldiers from the regional government have taken back during Operation Hilaac, an ongoing campaign against fighters from the Islamic State in Somalia ' the local branch of the terrorist network ' which began in late November 2024. Puntland's success in combating a growing Islamic State group presence in the northeastern region is particularly notable given the relative lack of success of the central Somali government's confrontation with the al-Qaida-affiliated group Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahidin ' more commonly known as al-Shabab ' which for about two decades has waged war against federal forces. Islamic State in Somalia emerged in 2015 when a small group of al-Shabab members led by Abdulqadir Mumin '...
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