US Africa Command has announced two more US airstrikes in Somalia that it said targeted the ISIS affiliate in the northeastern Puntland region as the Trump administration continues to bomb the country at a record pace.
AFRICOM reported a strike was launched on May 31 and another one on June 1. The command said both attacks were launched about 45 miles south of the port city of Bosaso.
AFRICOM said the strikes were launched “in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia,” although Puntland is not controlled by the US-backed government. The US has been backing local Puntland forces that are fighting ISIS on the ground.
The command offered no further details about the strikes, as it has stopped sharing casualty estimates or assessments of potential civilian harm in its press releases. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” AFRICOM said.
Based on AFRICOM press releases, the two new airstrikes bring the total number of US strikes in the country in 2025 to 30. New America, an organization that tracks the US air war in Somalia, has recorded a total of 36 US airstrikes in Somalia this year.
If the pace continues, the administration is set to break the record for the most US airstrikes in Somalia in a single year, which Trump set at 63 in 2019.
Besides the air war against ISIS in Puntland, the US has also been bombing al-Shabaab, which has been on the offensive against the US-backed government in southern and central Somalia. Somali media reported that airstrikes hit al-Shabaab on Friday, but so far, AFRICOM hasn’t confirmed strikes on that day.
