...
Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...forces of Evil attacked a checkpoint in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland
...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion...
region, killing at least seven people in the early hours of Monday, police said.
The fighters then ambushed officers rushing in to help colleagues on the outskirts of the city of Bosaso, an officer at the scene told Rooters.
Al-Shabaab said it took the checkpoint then left, though the police said they fought off the assault.
Al-Shabaab has launched a string of attacks on Somalia’s capital Mogadishu and other areas controlled by the federal government in a bid to oust the Western-backed authorities and impose the group’s interpretation of Islamic law.
Attacks are relatively rare in Puntland, which has its own government and security forces patrolling its territory on the northeastern tip of the Horn of Africa, jutting out into the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
"At about 1am, many well-armed al-Shabaab fighters attacked us from all directions in an attempt to capture the checkpoint," police captain Abdifatah Mohammed said.
Three police and four civilians died and at least 13 others were maimed in the festivities, he said over the phone from the checkpoint.
Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab’s military operation front man, said its fighters killed seven soldiers and maimed 11 others.
"We captured the Bosaso checkpoint and left this morning. We also ambushed a police reinforcement," he said.
Puntland is also home to a splinter group of al-Shabaab that has sworn allegiance to Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
. Security sources say a small contingent of imported muscle is based there.