Islamic State on Wednesday claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack on a Somali military base in the Puntland region, but has remained silent on the New Year's Day terror attack in New Orleans, where the perpetrator carried an ISIS flag on a pickup truck. It was.
ISIS claimed At least 22 military personnel were killed in the Puntland attack. It started A series of suicide bombings and car bombs occurred in the eastern village of Darjare.
National and local government officials did not immediately confirm the number of casualties, but local media reported. said 18 soldiers were killed and 30 wounded, some seriously. Eight ISIS fighters and an unspecified civilian were also killed in the attack.
“Photographs purportedly depicting extremist corpses show severed heads and burnt and mutilated flesh, indicating the use of large explosive devices,” Voice of America said. News (VOA) reported.
The attack may have been seen as a pre-emptive strike by the terrorist group, as authorities in Puntland indicated in December that they were preparing to launch a sustained operation against ISIS militants in the region. Somali and U.S. security officials agree that the Islamic State group has significantly increased its numbers in Somalia, including both local recruits and foreign fighters.
In its claim of responsibility, ISIS boasted that only 12 of its fighters had caused the terrible damage. Puntland counterterrorism officials said nine of the attackers were suicide bombers who died after detonating their payloads.
ISIS too boasted Fighters from seven countries were reportedly involved in the attack on the Somali military camp. include Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Yemen.
Islamic State of Somalia, established The terrorist group, founded in Puntland in 2015 by defectors from Somalia's largest terror group al-Shabaab, is ISIS' main power center, although it remains fairly small in terms of personnel. has grown into Despite the growth stated by American and Somali security officials, ISIS-Somalia has at most 600 active members.
ISIS-Somalia after surviving al-Shabaab's destruction or absorption efforts became An important logistics and financial center for ISIS operations across Africa and around the world. ISIS-Somalia excellent It has raised large sums of cash through extortion rackets, which it uses to fund ISIS operations in other theaters. The success in recruiting foreign fighters is due in part to the growing popularity and influence of leader Abdulkadir Mumin, who has become one of the world's top Islamic State leaders.
ISIS quickly claimed responsibility for the attack in Somalia, but has remained silent about New Orleans, where terrorist suspect Shamsud Din Jabbar is said to have been charged. carried Fourteen people were killed and more than 30 injured when a truck displayed an ISIS flag as it drove through a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street. Jabbar himself was shot dead by police at the scene.
In a brief statement on the horrors in New Orleans, outgoing President Joe Biden said: said Mr Jabbar was “inspired by ISIS” and carried out a “despicable attack”.
Biden said the FBI had told him that Jabbar had “posted videos on social media that showed he was inspired by ISIS” and had “expressed a desire to kill.” He also mentioned the ISIS flag found on the killer's truck.
FBI agent Christopher Reia said On Thursday, his agency announced it believed Jabbar acted alone, after offering a contrary assessment on Wednesday.
Mr. Raia said that Mr. Jabbar's social media activity included declarations of allegiance to the Islamic State, and that his original plans included harming his own family, but that such limited He said he had determined that the crime would not highlight a “war between believers and the Islamic State.” Unbelievers. ''However, Raia said the FBI has found no evidence that Jabbar was actively collaborating with ISIS members.
ISIS has weakened significantly after the collapse of its “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria and the death of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an operation ordered by President Donald Trump during his first term, but still Somehow pull apart In addition to deadly attacks in Iran, Russia and Oman over the past year, there has also been a recent attack in Somalia. ISIS typically does not hesitate to claim responsibility for terrorist acts and accepts perpetrators as “soldiers.”
