US Africa Command said in a press release on Monday that its forces launched an airstrike in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region, as the Trump administration continues to bomb the country at a record pace.
AFRICOM offered no details about the strike besides saying that it targeted the ISIS affiliate about 37 miles southeast of the Gulf of Aden port city of Bossaso. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said.
The US backs local forces against ISIS in Puntland, as the Mogadishu-based Federal Government doesn’t control the region. The Puntland Counter-Terrorism Operations said in a post on X on October 3, the day of the US airstrike, that its forces “carried out an operation to clear fleeing ISIS terrorists.”
The airstrike marked at least the 81st time the US has bombed Somalia this year. The Trump administration has shattered the record for annual US airstrikes, surpassing the previous record of 63, which President Trump set in 2019. For context, President Biden launched a total of 51 airstrikes in Somalia throughout his four years in office.
The US has also been launching airstrikes in southern and central Somalia, where it supports the government’s war against al-Shabaab. According to Garowe Online, the government reported a series of airstrikes across several regions in recent days, which were likely launched by the US. AFRICOM typically takes credit for airstrikes a few days after they are launched.
Last month, AFRICOM took credit for an airstrike in the northern Sanag region that killed a prominent clan elder. AFRICOM claimed he was an al-Shabaab weapons dealer, but that was strongly denied by family members and locals who say the victim, Abdullahi Omar Abdi, was known as a peacemaker.
