U.S. envoys meet Puntland State President Deni, vow support for anti-ISIS efforts

U.S. Envoy and Special Operations Commander Praise Puntland State’s Anti-ISIS Push in Bosaso as Airstrike Controversy Lingers

BOSASO, Somalia — In a high-profile show of support, the U.S. ambassador to Somalia and the head of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa met Puntland State’s president on Saturday in the bustling port city of Bosaso, commending local forces for pushing Islamic State militants from their mountain redoubts and helping keep some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes safe.

U.S. Ambassador Richard H. Riley and Major General Claude Tudor, who leads U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, held talks with Puntland State President Said Abdullahi Deni that focused on intensifying counter-terrorism coordination and maritime security in the Gulf of Aden. The meeting came as Puntland State forces prosecute a months-long campaign against ISIS cells in the Cal Miskaad mountains and as regional waters grow more volatile amid a resurgence of piracy and regional conflict spillover.

What the U.S. said

In a message posted on X, the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu signaled firm backing for Puntland State’s campaign: “While the United States provides unique capabilities in support, local forces are the tip of the spear, taking the fight to the enemy who threatens not only Somalia, but the region, and our homeland. This is the kind of coordinated approach that helps protect American interests at home and abroad.”

The presidency in Garowe said U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) also held a briefing with officers from “Operation Lightning,” the Puntland State-led offensive aimed at suppressing ISIS-Somalia hideouts along the rugged Bari region.

Why this matters

Puntland State’s coastline lies along the maritime artery that threads the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean—one of the main routes for global trade and energy. Any uptick in militant activity or piracy in these waters can ripple from Dubai to Rotterdam. After several years of relative quiet, Somali pirates made a brazen return late last year and early this year, testing merchant vessels even as the region grapples with Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Local authorities in Bosaso and coastal communities have been under pressure to fend off both militant infiltration and criminal networks.

Inside Puntland State’s interior, ISIS-Somalia—smaller than the dominant al-Shabaab insurgency and estimated by analysts to number in the low hundreds—has long used mountain hideouts to train, extort, and survive. That presence can easily intersect with smuggling routes that snake across the Horn of Africa, complicating the job of both local and international forces.

A meeting under a shadow

Saturday’s displays of solidarity came just days after a U.S. airstrike in Somalia’s northern Sanaag region on September 13 that AFRICOM said targeted an al-Shabaab member involved in weapons trafficking. The Pentagon did not disclose a name. Local officials and relatives, however, say a prominent clan elder, Abdullahi Omar Abdi, was killed in the strike, igniting controversy and calls for clarity. The claims could not be independently verified by Axadle Times.

Such episodes strike at a central dilemma of modern counter-terrorism: how to sustain pressure on violent groups while avoiding the anger and grievance that can follow when civilians are harmed—or perceived to be harmed. In a country where clan authority and reconciliation are essential to stability, the death of a respected elder can have a political ripple effect far beyond the site of a strike.

On the ground in Bosaso

On a humid Saturday in Bosaso, the scent of the sea hangs over the quayside where dhows and cargo ships jostle for space, and young men push carts stacked with sacks of sugar and flour. The city is a commercial lifeline for the region and a cultural crossroads where traders drift in from the interior and the Gulf. Conversations about security aren’t abstract here: fishermen watch for suspicious skiffs, and port workers remember the days when Somali piracy dominated global headlines.

“People want to work, to trade, to send their kids to school,” a port supervisor said, asking not to be named for security reasons. “When there is calm, business moves. If there is trouble in the mountains or on the water, everything slows.”

Puntland State’s evolving security role

Puntland State, which operates with semi-autonomous authority within Somalia’s federal framework, has often taken a pragmatic approach to security—building out local forces, working with international partners, and flexing to meet changing threats. Operation Lightning is the latest iteration of that approach, pressing militants in terrain where rough tracks and steep ravines favor guerrilla tactics over conventional firefights.

African Union forces and Somali federal troops are mainly engaged further south against al-Shabaab. In the north, Puntland State’s task is narrower but sensitive: prevent ISIS from consolidating safe havens and protect the maritime corridor from exploitation by militants and criminal syndicates.

Global currents and local calculus

The meeting in Bosaso underscores a broader trend: the U.S. is leaning on partnerships that combine precise support—intelligence, advising, occasional strikes—with local forces that know the terrain. That model, seen from the Sahel to the Philippines, relies on trust, responsiveness to civilian harm allegations, and results that people can feel—safer roads, fewer extortions, steadier trade.

But the political map complicates the security one. Sanaag, where the recent strike occurred, is claimed by both North Western State of Somalia and Puntland State, a reminder that territorial disputes can tangle with counter-terrorism in ways that are hard to unravel. When a strike hits the wrong note, who calls for accountability? Who owns the investigation? Who can restore confidence on the ground?

What happens next

U.S. officials reiterated that the fight against ISIS and al-Shabaab remains a shared priority and warned that terror threats can leap borders, reaching from the Horn to the American homeland. Expect more joint briefings, more advising, and, where the U.S. sees a credible threat, the possibility of additional strikes.

For Puntland State, the next steps likely include tightening coastal patrols, expanding community intelligence networks, and pushing deeper into the Cal Miskaad to deny militants sanctuary. For residents, the everyday barometer will be simple: Can we move goods? Can our children reach school? Can the fishermen return safely at dusk?

The questions to watch

• Can Puntland State maintain momentum against ISIS cells while guarding against a resurgence of piracy in the Gulf of Aden?
• Will AFRICOM and Somali authorities provide transparent accounting when strikes are disputed, especially when community leaders are reported among the dead?
• How will the delicate politics of contested regions like Sanaag shape—help or hinder—counter-terrorism cooperation?
• And, more broadly, can a leaner partnership model deliver security gains that outlast any single operation or airstrike?

In Bosaso, amid the clatter of cranes and the churn of engines, officials spoke of coordination and shared priorities. The hard work, as ever in Somalia, will be measured far from the podium: in quiet nights in the hills, and unremarkable mornings at sea.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.