Th e militant Islamic State (IS) group has claimed its fi rst suicide attack in Somalia, the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors the jihadists, has said. Five people were killed in Tuesday’s attack on a checkpoint in the north-eastern port city of Bosaso in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, police said. Th e militant’s Amaq media news agency said an “explosive vest” had been used in the operation, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
AFP news agency quoted local police offi cial Mohamed Dahir Adan as saying: “Security forces stopped the suspect when he approached but he detonated himself leaving fi ve people dead. One of the security offi cers and four civilians were killed in the blast.” In 2015, al-Shabab, al-Qaeda’s affi liate in Somalia, split when Sheikh Abdulqadir Mumi, a prominent former “spiritual leader” and recruiter for the group, declared allegiance to IS from his base in the remote Galgala Mountains in Puntland. He was placed on a US terror list last August.
