NAIROBI, Kenya — U.S. airstrikes in Somalia have surged more than tenfold this year under the Trump administration, with U.S. Africa Command saying it has conducted 101 strikes so far in 2025, compared with 10 missions in all of 2024 under President Biden. AFRICOM confirmed the figures to Fox News Digital and said operations are targeting ISIS-Somalia cells and the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab insurgency.
The latest operation unfolded Tuesday in Puntland State, northeastern Somalia, where AFRICOM said it carried out an airstrike “in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia.” Local sources reported the strike was followed by intense fighting that lasted up to four hours against ISIS-Somalia militants. AFRICOM did not confirm the ground clash but said the mission focused on disrupting extremist networks and preventing threats to U.S. and partner forces.
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Community and security sources in Puntland State said high-value ISIS targets were hit, including a senior figure who was reportedly killed or captured, along with up to 10 other militants. There were no reported U.S. casualties.
AFRICOM said Thursday that to date this year it has conducted 101 airstrikes in Somalia, 59 of them specifically against ISIS-Somalia. The broader campaign has also continued to strike al-Shabab, which commands the largest insurgent footprint in the country and routinely mounts attacks on Somali government and African Union positions.
Local reporting from the latest raid described MQ-9 Reaper drones launching missiles at fighters positioned around a large cave complex, followed by an attack involving about 10 helicopters. Some accounts claimed U.S. troops disembarked during the operation. AFRICOM officials pushed back, emphasizing there was no U.S. ground operation and that reports of American forces on the ground were inaccurate.
The surge reflects an expanded operational tempo after a comparatively quiet 2024, when AFRICOM said it conducted 10 strikes in Somalia. In August, Gen. Dagvin Anderson said the strikes underscore Washington’s intent to keep Americans and allies safe by disrupting groups that seek to export terror abroad.
Analysts say the renewed focus on Puntland State is aimed at denying ISIS-Somalia a durable safe haven in the rugged mountains of the northeast. Ahmed Soliman, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, told Fox News Digital the intent is to prevent foreign-fighter inflows and training pipelines that could regenerate the group’s external attack capability. He cautioned, however, that al-Shabab has historically exploited shifts in international attention to retake ground elsewhere, benefiting from Somalia’s fragmented political scene and periodic rifts between the federal government and regions such as Puntland State and Jubaland.
The Biden administration repositioned a small number of U.S. forces to Somalia in 2022 to support counterterrorism operations and advise Somali units, after a late-2020 withdrawal. Under Trump’s return to office, the air component of that mission has intensified, with AFRICOM framing the effort as part of a wider campaign to degrade terrorist networks that could threaten U.S. interests. In May, then-AFRICOM commander Gen. Michael E. Langley said the United States is “actively pursuing and eliminating jihadists” in Somalia.
Somali and U.S. officials say airstrikes are coordinated with Mogadishu to hit leadership nodes, training sites and vehicles while limiting civilian harm. AFRICOM routinely states it assesses and investigates any allegations of civilian casualties; none were reported in this week’s operation as of Friday.
While the pace of strikes has increased, long-term gains are likely to hinge on Somali political cohesion and the capacity of federal and regional security forces to hold recaptured areas. For now, U.S. commanders appear intent on maintaining pressure in Puntland State and beyond, as ISIS-Somalia and al-Shabab test the limits of Somalia’s security transition.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
