US Africa Command has announced that its forces have launched another airstrike in Somalia, marking the 102nd time the US has bombed the country this year, an unprecedented number.
AFRICOM said the strike occurred on November 30 and offered no details other than saying it targeted al-Shabaab and was launched about 70 miles southwest of the southern port city of Kismayo, in the southern Jubaland region.
“Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” AFRICOM said in its press release. The command stopped sharing casualty estimates and assessments on potential civilian harm earlier this year.
The US-backed Federal Government, which is based in Mogadishu, has been at odds with the government of the Jubaland state since the region rejected constitutional changes made by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud last year. Toward the end of 2024, Jubaland cut ties with the Federal Government, and sporadic clashes have since occurred between Jubaland forces and the Somali military.
But in recent months, Jubaland and the Somali military have conducted some joint operations against al-Shabaab. During one joint attack on the town of Jamame last month, a suspected US airstrike killed 12 civilians, including eight children.
On Monday, US Ambassador to Somalia Richard Riley met with Jubaland’s president, Ahmed Mohamed Islam, also known as Ahmed Madobe, and stressed “national unity,” according to a statement from the US Embassy in Mogadishu. “Today Jubaland [President Madobe] and I met in Kismayo to discuss the importance of national unity to fight terrorism for the benefit of the people of Jubaland and all of Somalia,” Riley said.
The Jubaland State House said the meeting focused on “strengthening bilateral relations in the security sector, support for development projects, and the general political affairs of Somalia.”
While backing the Federal Government and the Jubaland state against al-Shabaab in southern and central Somalia, the US has also continued its airstrikes in Somalia’s northeast Puntland region. The US backs local Puntland forces against the ISIS affiliate, and 59 of the 102 airstrikes the US has launched in Somalia targeted ISIS in Puntland, according to AFRICOM.
The Trump administration has shattered the previous record for annual US airstrikes in Somalia, which he set at 63 during his first term in 2019. The 102 bombings represent a more than tenfold increase in US airstrikes in Somalia since 2024, when 10 were launched.
