The Minister of Defense of the Federal Government of Somalia, Ahmed Moallin Fiqi, has revealed that the E-Visa program has played a significant role in controlling and preventing the movement of ISIS members hiding in the Calmiskaad mountains of Puntland.
Minister Fiqi said that since the launch of the E-Visa system, not a single ISIS member has used a plane to cross the Calmiskaad mountains. He noted that in previous years, many passports of mostly Arab foreigners were seized, who were suspected of joining or going to the ISIS group, and all of them arrived at airports in Puntland and Somaliland.
“In the Puntland mountains, many passports of mostly Arab foreigners who were seized from ISIS, all of them arrived at airports in Puntland and Somaliland. Now it is less, not a single terrorist has boarded a plane since the implementation of the E-visa, ISIS is finished,” said Minister Fiqi.
The Minister of Defense also said that the purpose of the E-Visa is not to restrict the immigration of people from Puntland and Somaliland, but to accurately identify everyone entering the country, which is part of the efforts to ensure security by the Federal Government of Somalia.
Minister Fiqi’s statement comes at a time when Somaliland and Puntland are strongly opposed to the government’s E-visa system, which they have told the media in various ways that they will not comply with.
