While the reports were not immediately confirmed, they hinted that ISIS may very well still be in Somalia, where the militant group hasn’t been heard from since early last month. Somalia and the greater East African region has been the target of a separate terror group: the al Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab, which has been wreaking bloody havoc mainly in Somalia and neighboring Kenya in an effort to instill what it says is traditional Islamic law and shun the Western governments supporting those nations.
The signature black flag of ISIS was seen being raised in Somalia in late October after it took over the strategic coastal town of Qandala in late October, CBS News reported.
“This is a symbolic victory because this is the first major town that ISIS has captured in Somalia,” an expert on Somalia told CBS News at the time.
Some al-Shabab fighters have defected and joined ISIS, and there was bad blood between the two terror groups which were seemingly pushing for the same political ideals.