In one of the world’s most unstable nations, the Islamic State is mounting a quiet resurgence. Far from its origins in Iraq, the group’s Somali branch has grown to more than 1,000 foreign fighters and has become the financial hub of the group.

Whether ISIS’s troubling rise in this corner of Africa can be contained now depends largely on a force of under-equipped, scrappy soldiers in Puntland, a semiautonomous region in northern Somalia. This story journeys with them to the frontline in their fight against ISIS, fighting not just for their homeland but also for global security.

Soldiers with the Puntland Defense Forces spend time at a cave where Islamic State fighters lived until recently being flushed out on the frontline near Daabdamale, Puntland, Somalia on January 25, 2025. Islamic State in Somalia recruits foreign fighters and brings them into Somalia to try to gain ground in what is becoming a key nerve center for the Islamic State. As certain areas and caves were cleared in this battle, ISIS scattered into new areas of the highlands, making the location of the frontline suddenly unclear.

Soldiers with the Puntland Defense Forces spend time at a cave where Islamic State fighters lived until recently being flushed out on the frontline near Daabdamale, Puntland, Somalia on January 25, 2025. Islamic State in Somalia recruits foreign fighters and brings them into Somalia to try to gain ground in what is becoming a key nerve center for the Islamic State. The cave was fortified by sandbags and outfitted with a water reservoir cut into the rock, indicating that Islamic State fighters had taken ahold of the area for a long time.

Soldiers with the Puntland Defense Forces spend time at a former Islamic State stronghold that they recently took back on the frontline near Daabdamale, Puntland, Somalia on January 25, 2025. Positioned on top of a mountain with guarded lookout points all around, this stronghold was strategically extremely challenging to attack. The Puntland Defense Forces relied on their knowledge of the land to defeat ISIS fighters who had been stationed here for a long time. Meanwhile, across the valley, smoke and dust rose from an active battle between Puntland Defense Forces and Islamic State fighters.

A soldier with the Puntland Defense Force fires a machine gun at a former Islamic State stronghold that they recently took back on the frontline near Daabdamale, Puntland, Somalia on January 25, 2025. At this time, Islamic State was using drone technology, more advanced and expensive than what Puntland had access to, and improvised explosive devices to gain ground in the mountains.

As soldiers with the Puntland Defense Forces pass on the road to the frontline in their battle with Islamic State on January 25, 2025, two men sit amongst the wreckage from a suicide bomb attack on December 31, 2024 involving 12 suicide bombers supported by 60 fighters in Dharjaale, Puntland, Somalia.

General Fu’ad Xanaano, of the Puntland Defense Forces, is loaded into a plane at the airport in Bosaso, Puntland, Somalia taking him to Ethiopia for treatment for his battle injuries on January 26, 2025. Improvised explosive devices, or IED's are commonly used by ISIS to attack routes or take out soldiers in battle. Of the 30 IED specialists Puntland had at the beginning, only a couple remained. The local healthcare infrastructure could not handle the volume or complexity of all the wounded, so many are sent to Ethiopia for surgery and recovery.

Soldiers with the Puntland Defense Forces climb a fence to unlock a gate at their forward operating base near the frontline in their battle with Islamic State in Balidhidin, Puntland, Somalia on January 26, 2025. The group uses their forward operating base as a home base for soldiers venturing out to battles against Islamic State in the surrounding mountains.

A woman, unidentified for her safety because she lived under Islamic State, stands for a portrait near the Puntland Defense Forces’ forward operating base close to the frontline in their battle with Islamic State in Balidhidin, Puntland, Somalia on January 26, 2025. She spoke of the violence and fear she lived with during the Islamic State's occupation of her community.

Prisoners, who working with ISIS but claimed they deserted out of fear, spend time in prison in Garowe, Puntland, Somalia on January 23, 2025. They told stories of being lured from other countries in the region with promise of work, but found themselves suddenly risking their lives for ISIS in rural mountain caves. Verifying their claims of how they joined ISIS, whether they knew what they were signing up for, or how much they believed in the cause proved impossible.

A prisoner from Morocco who said he deserted from working for the Islamic State stands in prison after posing for a portrait in Garowe, Puntland, Somalia on January 23, 2025. He and the other prisoners told stories of being lured from other countries in the region with promise of work, but found themselves suddenly risking their lives for ISIS in rural mountain caves. Verifying their claims of how they joined ISIS, whether they knew what they were signing up for, or how much they believed in the cause proved impossible. ISIS recruits foreign fighters to try to turn Somalia into a gateway for money, weapons, and terroristic ambitions between the African continent and the rest of the world.