The woman fighting IS in Somalia
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 4 April 2026
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The global activities of the Islamic State group are now believed to be run from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in the north-east of Somalia, where IS fighters are entrenched in the caves and harsh mountainous terrain of the area. But many locals there do not support IS and are committed to fighting back against the group. For BBC News Somali, Sahnun Ahmed spent time embedded with the Puntland Defence Force, one of the groups resisting the militants, and witnessed the operations of their fighters, including one female fighter determined her children will not grow up in the shadow of IS.
Israel is home to around a quarter of a million Iranian Jews, who first began arriving in the country in 1948 and then came in bigger numbers following Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979. Many in the community (including younger generations born in Israel) remain closely connected to their Iranian heritage, while embracing both cultures. The US and Israel's war with Iran, however, has left Iranian Jews in a difficult position, caught between homeland and adopted home. BBC Arabic's Michael Shuval has been talking to Iranian Jews in Israel.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.0 | Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:13.8 | You're listening The Fifth Floor. |
| 0:17.6 | The Fifth Floor, you know you, listen. |
| 0:20.0 | The Fifth Floor, Farnak, Amid, Isobat. The fifth floor is You're listening. This is the fifth floor |
| 0:23.2 | Farnak Amidi, Sobath. |
| 0:26.7 | This is the fifth floor |
| 0:28.5 | at the heart of global storytelling |
| 0:31.2 | with BBC journalists from all around the world. |
| 0:35.0 | I'm your host, Faranak Amidi. |
| 0:49.8 | Thank you. all around the world. I'm your host, Faranak Amidi. The global activities of the Islamic State Group are now believed to be run from the semi-autonomous region of Pondland and the northeast of Somalia, where IS fighters are entrenched in the caves in harsh |
| 0:57.4 | mountainous terrain of the area. But many locals there do not support IS and are committed to |
| 1:04.2 | fighting back against the group. For BBC News Somali, Sagnon Ahmed, spent time embedded with the Puntland Defense Force, |
| 1:12.7 | one of the groups resisting the militants, and witnessed the operations of their fighters, |
| 1:17.8 | including some women. When I spoke to Sajnun, he first began by explaining ISS impact on the lives |
| 1:25.0 | of ordinary people in the region. The group has carried out targeted assassinations using hit-and-run tactics. |
| 1:33.9 | Also, they were carrying out bomb attacks in public places to spread fear among civilians. |
| 1:41.9 | They have targeted government officials and security forces which weakened |
| 1:47.0 | the stability of the region. On top of that, the group has forced local businesses to pay extortion |
| 1:56.0 | money, generating significant income. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Treasury, |
| 2:04.4 | IS Somalia collected around $2 million US dollars from local businesses. |
| 2:10.5 | Businesses that refuse to comply with that kind of extortion faced severe punishment. |
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