U.S. warplanes took aim at the Islamic State affiliate in Somalia, hitting what officials described as high-ranking operatives in the terror group’s mountainous stronghold.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the precision strike Saturday on social media, describing the main target as a “Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led.”
“These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies,” Trump said. “The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians.”
A separate statement from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes targeted an area in Somalia’s Golis mountains, and “further degrades ISIS’s ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening US citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.”
Neither Trump nor Hegseth named the IS planner, though U.S. officials said the strikes were carried out in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia.
General Adan Abdi Hashi, commander of the Puntland Devish Forces said the airstrikes targeted at least 10 locations of the Islamic State militants in the Cal-Miskaad area, which is part of the Golis mountains.
“The strikes targeted about 10 locations in the Cal-Miskaad areas, most of them caves, and we believe that many of the militants were killed,” said the general.
Residents in Qandala, a small town in Bari region of Puntland told VOA on the condition of anonymity because they feared for their lives, that they could see from the distance plumes of smoke and flames, and that they could hear at least seven huge explosions.
Officials from Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region thanked the U.S. on social media, calling the operation a success.
“The latest airstrike, carried out today, resulted in the elimination of several high-ranking #ISIS members,” according to the statement.
U.S. Africa Command, which oversees U.S, military efforts on the continent, said it, too, assessed multiple terror operatives had been killed.
The Islamic State, also known as IS or Daesh, has increasingly played a key role in the terror group’s operations in Africa and beyond.
Since 2022, Somalia has been home to al-Karrar, one of nine regional Islamic State offices established to help sustain the terror group’s capabilities. As a result, IS-Somalia has become both a key cog in the IS financial network, funneling money to affiliates in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Africa.
IS-Somalia has, at the same time, become more influential under the leadership of Abdulkadir Mumin, a former militant with the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, who is thought to now head IS’ directorate of provinces, overseeing the terror group’s affiliates in Africa.
Some U.S. officials worry Mumin has risen even higher, perhaps acting as the Islamic State’s top emir. Others disagree but there is consensus that Mumin is nonetheless a pivotal figure.
The U.S. previously targeted Mumin in May of last year.
Recent intelligence assessments have further warned IS-Somalia has more than doubled in size over the past year and may now boast up to as many as 1,600 fighters, bolstered by an influx of fighters from Ethiopia, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania and Yemen.
Most of IS-Somalia’s manpower has been concentrated in Puntland, especially in the Golis Mountains, also known as the Cal-Miskaad mountains.
Saturday’s airstrike, the first against IS in Somalia so far this year, was carried out by fighter jets launched from the USS Harry S. Truman, currently in the Red Sea, according to defense officials who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss details of the operation.
It comes as Somali forces in Puntland continue a military offensive against ISIS militants hiding in Cal-Miskaad mountains. Puntland also thanked the United Arab Emirates which they say provided air support to the ongoing offensive.
The operations, which started in late December 31, drove militants from vast areas in the northeastern highlands of Somalia.
The militants, many of them foreigners, have claimed carrying out IED attacks against Puntland forces.
The fiercest clashes occurred late last week when the regional forces dislodged the militants from Turmasaale, a strategic location about 150 kilometers southeast of Bosaso.
The Somali government called Saturday’s airstrikes by the U.S. “a critical step in our shared fight against terrorism.”
“The Federal Government of Somalia welcomes the firm and decisive counterterrorism efforts led by the United States,” it said in a statement. “Together, we will continue to dismantle extremist networks … and build a future free from the scourge of terrorism.”
