They Infiltrated from Puntland: Ethiopia Arrests Dozens of ISIS Fighters
Ethiopian authorities have arrested dozens of ISIS militants who were planning to carry out attacks across the country.
The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Network reported that the arrested fighters had undergone training and were dispatched to conduct operations nationwide.
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According to a statement from the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), the 82 suspects belong to ISIS’s Somali affiliate, which operates mainly in the semi-autonomous Puntland region.
Over recent years, the Somali branch has become an increasingly important node in ISIS’s global network, according to Reuters.
Fana added that NISS is closely monitoring the group’s cross-border infiltration tactics and its efforts to establish sleeper cells within Ethiopia.
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The ISIS faction in Somalia has expanded in recent years, boosted by the influx of foreign fighters and increased financial resources. The group’s estimated manpower ranges between 700 and 1,500, although it remains significantly smaller than Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda’s affiliate that controls large areas in southern and central Somalia.
Escalating Threat
A report issued last month by the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) warned that ISIS in Somalia remains a growing security threat in Puntland, despite suffering severe losses in recent military operations.
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This warning comes as Puntland intensifies military offensives against ISIS strongholds in the Al-Miskad Mountains, in Bari province, where local forces have seized key strategic sites and destroyed weapon stockpiles.
Security forces have also launched widespread crackdowns on undocumented migrants, particularly in the city of Bosaso, arresting hundreds in an attempt to cut off the flow of foreign fighters to the group.
Despite battlefield gains, the report warns that the lack of a long-term security strategy may pave the way for ISIS to regroup and resurge.
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It also highlights rising concerns over arms smuggling across the Red Sea from Yemen, where the Houthi movement is believed to facilitate weapons transfers to ISIS via well-established smuggling routes.
So far, Puntland authorities have not announced any formal plan to maintain permanent security presence in the Al-Miskad Mountains once the current campaign ends — a strategic gap that analysts say could be exploited by the group to regain a foothold.
