MOGADISHU, Somalia

A senior commander of the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group was killed in a clash with security forces in Somalia’s semiautonomous Puntland region, authorities said on Friday.

Abu-Albara al-Amani was killed as forces repulsed a Daesh/ISIS attack on a military base in Puntland’s Bari region late on Thursday, according to a police statement.

He was the terrorist group’s head of operations in Somalia since July 11, 2021, the statement said.

He hailed from Ethiopia’s Amhara region and “was responsible for forcing many Ethiopians to join the terrorist group,” it added.

Daesh/ISIS, known to be active in Somalia’s mountainous Bari region, has claimed responsibility for several attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.

Late last year, the US imposed sanctions targeting Daesh/ISIS in Somalia and other terrorists it accused of being involved in a “terrorist weapons trafficking network” in Eastern Africa.

In 2018, the US State Department placed Daesh/ISIS in Somalia on its Specially Designated Global Terrorist list.

Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with al-Shabaab and Daesh/ISIS being among the main threats.

The UN has warned of growing instability in the country, issuing periodic reports last year that detailed attacks by al-Shabaab and pro-Daesh/ISIS terror groups.

There were at least 1,518 civilian casualties – 651 killed and 867 injured – in terror attacks in Somalia in 2018, followed by 1,459 – 591 killed and 868 injured – in 2019, according to UN estimates.​​​​​​​