By Mohamed Abdiwahab (AFP/File)

Mogadishu (AFP) - Several dozen armed men belonging to an Islamic State-linked group on Wednesday seized control of a small port in Somalia's Puntland region, local residents said. "The militants left town early this morning but they are not far away," said Abdiweli Adan, an elder in a town close to Qandala which the IS-linked group occupied on Wednesday. MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A group loyal to Islamic State seized the small port town of Qandala in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region on Wednesday, the first town it has taken since emerging a year ago, officials said. Unfortunately, they have run away even before the forces reached the town," said Cabdirisak Mohamed, a security official in the capital Bossaso, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) west of Qandala. The group is led by Abdiqadir Mumin, a former al Shabaab commander, a sign that some al Shabaab fighters see al Qaeda as a spent force and have been inspired by Islamic State’s campaign in Iraq and Syria.
A militant group affiliated with ISIL seizes the coastal town of Qandala in the autonomous Puntland region.