Puntland has announced that operations in the Calmiskaad Mountains in the Bari region have killed nearly 700 foreign fighters since the operation began late last year.
Puntland said that only five Somalis were killed in the operation.
Mohamed Abdirahman Dhabancad, a political adviser to the Puntland president, made the disclosure during an interview with international broadcaster Sky News, which was preparing a report on Puntland’s fight against the Islamic State group.
Dhabancad showed Sky News reporter Alex Crawford the passports of fighters from more than 20 countries whose citizens had come to fight for ISIS. The citizens came from Europe, America, Africa and Asia.
According to him, most of the foreigners fighting for ISIS entered the country illegally or as refugees, for example fighters from Ethiopia who entered Puntland posing as refugees and then joined ISIS.
Similarly, other fighters have secretly crossed the Yemeni coast using smuggling boats, without any documents such as passports.
Puntland has said that 70% of ISIS fighters in the Al-Qaida mountains have now been killed, and the number remaining is very small compared to Somalis.
