Qandala campaign

An ISS fighter hoists his group's flag over Qandala on the same building where Somali folk hero Ali Fahiye Gedi was imprisoned during the colonial era.

Date	26 October – 18 December 2016 (1 month, 3 weeks and 1 day)
Location	Qandala, Somalia
Result	Tactical Puntland victory; major ISS propaganda success

Belligerents

Islamic State in Somalia (ISS)

Puntland

Commanders and leaders

Sheikh Abdul Qadir Mumin
(leader of ISS)

Mahad Maoallim
(ISS senior commander)

Shire Haji Farah
(Minister of Planning and International Relations)

Yusuf Mohamed Dhedo
(Bari region governor)

Admiral Abdirizak Dirie Farah
(Puntland Maritime Police commander)

Units involved

Unknown

Puntland Security Force

Clan militias

Strength

Unknown

"Hundreds" of fighters, several gunboats

Casualties and losses

30 killed, 35 wounded, several captured(government claim)

3+ wounded

25,700+ displaced

Puntland Security Force

The Qandala campaign began when the Islamic State in Somalia (ISS) attacked and captured the major town of Qandala in Puntland on 26 October 2016. This takeover resulted in the displacement of over 25,700 civilians and an eventual counter-offensive by the Puntland Security Force, which succeeded in driving ISS from Qandala on 7 December, and thereafter government units continued to attack the militants' hideouts in the nearby mountains until 18 December. The fall of Qandala marked the second time that an Islamic State-affiliated group had captured a town in Somalia, but whereas the first takeover had lasted only for a very short time, ISS had managed to hold Qandala, a town of both major strategic as well as symbolic importance, for over a month.

When Abdul Qadir Mumin broke away from Al-Shabaab and declared allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2015, only about 20 of the 300 Islamist fighters based in Puntland joined him. Over the following year he and his followers evaded attacks by Al-Shabaab loyalists and recruited new members; by October 2016, it was assumed that Abdul Qadir Mumin's group had significantly grown to about 300 fighters. Thus, as the first anniversary of the Islamic State in Somalia's foundation grew near, ISS sought a target for its first major attack. In this regard, Qandala would be a convenient target, as Mumin's clan lived near the town, and the conquest of a significant settlement as well as the proclamation of an Islamic region in the whole of Africa could gain him more local support and sympathizers.

...
Wikipedia