The U.S. military conducted airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Somalia, marking the first such operation in the country under President Donald Trump’s second term. The strikes specifically targeted IS-Somalia operatives in the Golis Mountains, located in the semi-autonomous Puntland region.
President Trump confirmed the strikes on Saturday, stating that they were directed at a senior IS attack planner and other members of the group.
This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia. These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies. The strikes destroyed the caves they live in,…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2025
While Trump did not disclose the identity of the targeted militant or confirm whether they were killed, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that an initial assessment indicated multiple IS operatives were eliminated, with no civilian casualties reported. Hegseth described the operation as a demonstration of U.S. resolve in the fight against terrorism.
“This action further degrades ISIS’s ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians and sends a clear signal that the United States always stands ready to find and eliminate terrorists who threaten the United States and our allies, even as we conduct robust border-protection and many other operations under President Trump’s leadership,” the statement read.
“The Pentagon’s counterterrorism strategy in Africa has been strained as two key partners, Chad and Niger, ousted U.S. forces last year and took over key bases that the U.S. military had used to train and conduct missions against terrorist groups across the Sahel, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert,” reported CBS News.
“U.S. military officials have warned that ISIS cells have received increasing direction from the group’s leadership that relocated to northern Somalia. That has included how to kidnap Westerners for ransom, how to learn better military tactics, how to hide from drones and how to build their own small quadcopters.”
A strike was also carried out by American in coordination with Somalia last year. It killed three members of the group, the U.S. military claimed.
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