IS militants seize city in northeastern Somali

The ISIS extremists have captured a strategic town in Puntland.

Report informs, citing TASS, that, according to Somalia's Garowe Online news portal, the ISIS fighters captured Balidghidin, which became the first city in years to fall to the militants.

The first cells of the terrorist organization appeared in northeastern Somalia in 2015. Before the recent capture of the city, the militants mainly functioned in the Golis mountains, where their bases are located. Experts say the estimated number of militants reaches 400 people.

Another terrorist organization - Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab, has been functioning in Somalia since 2004. The Somalian units of ISIS and Ash-Shabab are hostile, and clashes between them are not uncommon.