The attack on the Puntland military base in Somalia is attributed to Islamic State

The Islamic State group posted on its Telegram channel on Wednesday, claiming credit for an attack on a military base in Puntland, in northeastern Somalia, the previous day.

Islamic State said in its statement that 12 terrorists and two booby-trapped trucks carried out the attack, which left about 22 Puntland military personnel dead and scores more injured.

Comment from Somali authorities was not immediately available.

Somali security forces claimed to have thwarted an Islamic State suicide bomber attempt on a Puntland military installation on Tuesday, according to a military official and the local state television.

Near the town of Dharjaale in the Bari region, nine suicide bombers were killed and many soldiers were wounded, Captain Yusuf Mohamed, an official in Puntland’s counter-terrorism forces, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Based in Puntland’s hilly regions, the group was formally acknowledged as the Somali province of Islamic State in 2017. Compared to al Shabaab, which controls large areas of southern Somalia, it was long seen as a small security threat in the Horn of Africa nation.

However, in recent years, the Somali franchise has transformed itself into a significant component of the global network of the terrorist group, with some media outlets referring to its leader, Abdulqadir Mumin, as its global chief.

Security analysts claim that Somalia has become the “nerve center” for Islamic State in Africa due to the influx of foreign fighters and increased funding from extortion of local companies.