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ISIS Attacks Military Bases in Somalia's Puntland with Car and Motorbike Bombs

FILE PHOTO: Puntland Security Forces parade newly trained soldiers and equipment to combat ISIS in Bosasso, Bari Region, Puntland region, Somalia January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
FILE PHOTO: Puntland Security Forces parade newly trained soldiers and equipment to combat ISIS in Bosasso, Bari Region, Puntland region, Somalia January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
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ISIS Attacks Military Bases in Somalia's Puntland with Car and Motorbike Bombs

FILE PHOTO: Puntland Security Forces parade newly trained soldiers and equipment to combat ISIS in Bosasso, Bari Region, Puntland region, Somalia January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
FILE PHOTO: Puntland Security Forces parade newly trained soldiers and equipment to combat ISIS in Bosasso, Bari Region, Puntland region, Somalia January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

ISIS attacked military bases in Somalia's northeastern Puntland state overnight with suicide car and motorbike bombs, a military official said on Tuesday.
Puntland announced a major offensive against ISIS and a rival group, the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, in December and claims to have since killed dozens of foreign fighters, captured several ISIS bases, and forced a senior commander to surrender.
"Last night after midnight, ISIS fighters attacked us in the recently liberated bases with suicide car and motorbike bombs. Many ISIS infantry attacked us, and the fighting is still ongoing," Mohamud Fadhigo, a Puntland military spokesperson, told Reuters.
The ISIS faction in Somalia has become an increasingly important part of its parent organization’s worldwide network in recent years, and was the target of US airstrikes earlier this month.
Somalia's state news agency reported on Tuesday that security forces had repelled attacks on military positions in the Hagaaro and Togo-Jecel areas of Puntland's Cal Miskaad mountains.
With an estimated 700 to 1,500 fighters, ISIS’ Somalia wing has grown in recent years thanks to an influx of foreign fighters and increasing revenues. But it is still much smaller than al Shabaab, which controls large parts of southern and central Somalia.

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11 Killed when Vehicle Plows Into Filipino Street Festival Crowd in Vancouver

Police officers work by a SUV, which was driven into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu day block party, as bodies of victims lie covered on the ground, in Vancouver, Canada April 27, 2025. REUTERS/Chris Helgren
Police officers work by a SUV, which was driven into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu day block party, as bodies of victims lie covered on the ground, in Vancouver, Canada April 27, 2025. REUTERS/Chris Helgren
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11 Killed when Vehicle Plows Into Filipino Street Festival Crowd in Vancouver

Police officers work by a SUV, which was driven into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu day block party, as bodies of victims lie covered on the ground, in Vancouver, Canada April 27, 2025. REUTERS/Chris Helgren
Police officers work by a SUV, which was driven into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu day block party, as bodies of victims lie covered on the ground, in Vancouver, Canada April 27, 2025. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

A man drove a vehicle into a crowd at a Filipino heritage festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver, killing 11 people and injuring more than 20 others, authorities said Sunday.
The vehicle entered the street at 8:14 p.m. on Saturday and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival, the Vancouver Police Department said in a social media post.
Prime Minister Mark Carney canceled his first campaign event on the final day of the election campaign ahead of Monday’s vote.
“An investigation is ongoing to determine how and why this horrific attack occurred. Authorities have confirmed one person is custody and it is believed they acted alone," he said.
Video of the aftermath shows the dead and injured along a narrow street in South Vancouver lined by food trucks. The front of the driver's SUV is smashed in, The Associated Press reported.
Kris Pangilinan, who brought his pop-up clothing and lifestyle booth to the festival, saw the vehicle enter past the barricade slowly before the driver slammed on the gas in an area that was packed with people after a concert. He said hearing the sounds of bodies hitting the vehicle will never leave his mind and continues to roll around in his head.
"He sideswiped someone on his right side and 'I was like ‘Oh, yo yo.’ And then he slammed on the gas,” he said. “And the sound of the acceleration, it sounds like an F1 car about to start a race.
"He slammed on the gas, barreled through the crowd. And all I can remember is seeing bodies flying up in the air higher than the food trucks themselves and landing on the ground and people yelling and screaming. It looked like a bowling ball hitting hitting bowling pins and all the pins are flying into the air.”
A 30-year-old Vancouver man was arrested at the scene and the department’s Major Crime Section is overseeing the investigation, police said.
“At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism,” the police department posted early Sunday.
Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai told a news conference that the man was arrested after initially being apprehended by bystanders.