It is one of the world's most dangerous
waters.
Ruthlessly exploited by arms dealers and
people smugglers
and fantastically challenging to
control.
>> Now we have species law.
>> Fishermen are often used as cover,
coerced or paid to take part. We're only
a few hours boat ride away from Yemen
and this is a favored route to transport
weapons and fighters in and out of
Somalia.
>> Looks like they're just fishermen in on
this occasion. I think that's the
problem. It's such a large area and
there's so many boats around here.
>> Hard to know who is who is a genuine
fisherman and who's a smuggler.
>> Let's go. Counterterrorism officials
tell us the Yemeni Houthis are now
coordinating with ISIS cells based in
the north of Somalia. And this sea route
is one of the ways they're transporting
new foreign recruits from Yemen and
across the world.
>> These people are not only local people,
but international terrorists who are
making money and selling the weapons.
Just a few months earlier, Islamic State
militants were causing mayhem in the
Keyport city of Basu, setting off bombs
and extorting money from shop owners and
businesses to fund terror attacks in
Somalia and beyond.
>> Whoa. This is from
>> D
>> shooting.
>> I was coming from beside the police
station with my groceries and they
detonated an IED.
The Puntland forces have taken the
battle to the mountainous north, where
ISIS fighters have dug in, terrorized,
and taken over communities, forcing
thousands to flee.
The trail led them to dozens of hideouts
in caves. You can see how they've
chiseled into the rock. There's a cave
there, a cave there, one around the
corner there. Just really built in their
defenses. These are natural defenses.
There's a toilet here.
Along here
there's a cooking area where they did it
under the rock so that no one who was
flying above could have see the smoke.
Another little cave and inlet there. And
over all this area they had a bird's
eyee view and could keep control of the
people down below in the valley.
They have a lot of power in the area and
had this military offensive not started,
there would be an even greater threat to
the world today. For ISIS to exist here,
we must not exist. And we're not going
to let that happen.
>> The Somali forces found hard drives here
filled with homemade videos filmed by
ISIS fighters with their families and
children.
It gives an insight into their daily
activities.
>> But there are also images showing them
setting off for battle.
>> And despite the simplicity of their
lives in these remote areas, the SIM
cards retrieved from ISIS phones also
show they were moving tens of thousands
of dollars around the world to other
extremist groups. Our intel people found
that there have been evidence on crypto
communications by ISIS but they also use
other methods. I told you that they
extort the money from here locally. Then
they can send the money by goats for
instance to to other countries. they can
send in the money by gold and then when
they sell in Dubai or in other places
they again use that money for other
purposes for instance buying like drones
or explosives.
>> Multiple passports and dozens of IDs
have been retrieved from the battlefield
showing ISIS recruits from around the
world have been lured to the Horn of
Africa.
We've been given exclusive access to
captured foreign fighters brought from
prison to see us in a secure location.
The first is a Moroccan who says he
joined up for money, but soon realized
ISIS wanted him to be a suicide bomber.
When they told me I had to wear a
suicide vest and target Puntland forces,
I said, "This is different to what you
told me. I was told I'd make money. I
didn't want to die, so I escaped."
The second prisoner is considered more
dangerous. He's from Yemen, accused of
being an ISIS commander, sniper, and
part of a twoman bomb squad captured
while setting off the device inside Baso
City. His partner died, and he's now on
death row, awaiting execution.
>> I didn't come here to kill Muslims.
>> But you must have heard within the ISIS
community that you were killing people
because people were being blown up.
Yes, I know this. But they don't kill
all people.
>> What did you think about killing
anybody?
>> They don't kill everyone.
>> Only infidels.
>> He's just 24 years old and tells us he
has no regrets.
>> Like so many, he traveled the sea route
from Yemen. But the Somalis admit out of
hundreds of foreign fighters that
they've killed in the past few months,
they've no idea how many have returned
to their homelands ready to wreak
terror. Alex Crawford, Sky News in
Puntland, Somalia. Okay.