Daesh releases first video of Somalia fighters

Somali police hold their weapons as they walk outside the Maka Al-Mukarama hotel during an Islamist group Al-Shabab attack in the capital Mogadishu, March 27, 2015. The country is now facing a mounting Daesh presence. (Reuters)

JOHANNESBURG: A group that monitors extremist organizations says Daesh has posted what is thought to be the first video from Daesh-affiliated fighters in Somalia.
The video posted online Monday calls on supporters to “hunt down” what it calls nonbelievers and attack churches and markets.
The SITE Intelligence Group says the video urges supporters to take advantage of people’s “drunkenness” over the holiday season to attack.
The United States last month launched its first drone strikes against Daesh-affiliated fighters in Somalia. The Horn of Africa nation has a small but growing presence of the fighters, many of them defectors from the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab extremist group.
The fighters are based in northern Somalia’s rural Puntland. Experts warn their numbers could grow as Daesh fighters flee Syria and Iraq.