Somali forces close to ISIS held town of Qandala

Hundreds of Somali forces led by Qandala mayor, who are moving toward the port town of Qandala for an offensive against Islamic State fighters who seized it close to two months ago, have reached Karin village near Qandala town.

Karin village which is located 30 km away from Qandala has been seized by the forces.

The forces that left Bosasso last week have arrived at a village close to Qandala town, said a security official who spoke under a condition of anonymity.

“We shall keep on moving until we liberate the town and annihilate the fighters from the region,” said the source.

Mumin’s group, which renounced Al-Shabaab in favor of Islamic State, is not thought to number more than a couple of hundred fighters.

It has no publicly known operational links to Islamic State in the Middle East.