Foreign fighters flocking to Islamic State in Somalia 

washington — 

The Islamic State panic group's tiny but influential affiliate successful Somalia is growing, acknowledgment successful portion to what the United Nations describes arsenic an "influx of overseas fighters."

A caller study this week by the U.N. Sanctions Monitoring Team for Somalia warns that fighters, including immoderate from countries successful the Middle East, person helped the Islamic State's Somali affiliate, besides known arsenic IS-Somalia, to much than treble successful size to betwixt 600 and 700 fighters.

"Foreign fighters get successful Puntland [Somalia] utilizing some maritime and overland routes," according to the report, which is based connected quality estimates from U.N. subordinate states.

The overseas fighters "have expanded and enhanced the group's capabilities," the study said, strengthening IS's beingness successful Somalia's Puntland portion portion besides helping it instrumentality territory from its cardinal rival, al-Qaida-linked panic radical al-Shabab.

Intelligence sources described the IS-Somalia advance, particularly successful Puntland's Cal Miskaad mountains, arsenic a "drastic change," crediting the overseas fighters for IS-Somalia's alteration successful fortune.

The U.N. study said the IS overseas fighters person travel from astatine slightest six countries: Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia, Sudan, Morocco and Tanzania. It besides said immoderate captured overseas fighters person reported moving with trainers who person travel from parts of the Middle East.

The caller study builds connected erstwhile warnings from U.S. and Somali officials, including the commandant of U.S. Africa Command, who told VOA past period that IS-Somalia had grown "twofold" implicit the past year.

Somali officials person likewise warned of hundreds of overseas fighters flocking to Somalia to articulation the ranks of the IS affiliate.

"This reporting connected an influx of overseas violent fighters successful Africa is concerning," said Austin Doctor, the manager of counterterrorism probe initiatives astatine the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center.

And portion the travel of overseas fighters to Somalia pales successful examination to the tens of thousands of fighters who flocked to articulation IS successful Syria and Iraq during the tallness of the panic group's self-declared caliphate, Doctor told VOA the inclination is apt to continue.

"A fig of factors contiguous successful the Horn [of Africa] and different Africa regions arsenic good volition apt entreaty to aspiring travelers looking to articulation the fertile and record of an extremist militant organization," helium said. "Global and section information forces should hole to spot much of this successful the adjacent term."

There are likewise concerns astir IS-Somalia's increasing prominence connected the planetary stage.

Since 2022, Somalia has been location to al-Karrar, 1 of 9 determination Islamic State offices established to assistance prolong the panic group's planetary capabilities.

The U.N. study cautions that contempt immoderate enactment losses, the al-Karrar bureau has go some much almighty and much decentralized, making it much hard to disrupt its activities.

And the study confirms that erstwhile IS-Somalia person Abdulqadir Mumin, who escaped a U.S. airstrike this past June, has been elevated to caput of the Islamic State's wide directorate of provinces, "placing him successful a enactment relation implicit [IS] affiliates successful Africa."

IS-Somalia, according to the report, is present being led by Mumin's erstwhile deputy, Abdirahman Fahiye Isse, with Abdiwali Waran-Walac moving IS-Somalia's finances.

And the group's finances look to beryllium successful bully shape.

"Given the comparatively tiny size of [IS]-Somalia, the radical tin prolong itself and make further gross for different [IS] affiliates done the al-Karrar office," the study said.