encountering little resistance. As Qandala was defended only by a very small number of soldiers, who were unable to stop the Islamic State fighters, all government officials and soldiers soon fled Qandala. Thereupon 60 ISS militants entered the town and captured it without further fighting, hoisting their flag on top of the police station and the building where Ali Fahiye Gedi had been imprisoned. Even though the jihadists tried to reassure the local population by telling them "don't panic, we will rule you according to the Islamic sharia (law)", Qandala's elders asked them to leave, to which the militants insisted that "they are not going anywhere". On the next day, Qandala's schools closed, and for the first time in the town's history, thousands of its residents fled by boat and on foot to Bosaso, while the Puntland Maritime Police Force deployed several gunboats to intercept any shipments by militant groups from Yemen. Puntland officials also claimed that ISS began to retreat from the town, though these reports were later disproven by locals. By 23 November, all civilian residents of Qandala had fled; overall 25,700 locals had been displaced due to the ISS takeover. Meanwhile, the town's ISS garrison began to erect defences around the town to prepare for the inevitable government counter-offensive. Puntland's counter-offensive The Puntland Security Force began their counter-offensive on 3 December, though their forces were hindered by the difficult terrain around Qandala and narrow roads that led to the town. Government soldiers encountered first resistance at the village of Bashashin, when they were forced to stop in order to dismantle landmines that had been placed on the road that ran through the village. At that moment, ISS militants launched a surprise attack, though the Puntland forces eventually repelled the assault. Another major skirmish happened on 5 December; besides these two battles, the fighting was mostly sporadic, though it lasted until 7 December. On that day, the Puntland forces entered Qandala by land and sea, encountering no resistance; ISS had evacuated its forces from the town beforehand and subsequently retreated to Gurur in the mountainous areas to the south. On 18 December, Puntland police forces reportedly attacked and destroyed an ISS base at El Ladid, a village 30 kilometers south of Qandala, where the rebels were regrouping after their retreat. Aftermath Though ISS had ultimately lost all captured territory and if government sources are to be believed, suffered