US Africa Command told Antiwar.com in an email on Tuesday that its forces have launched 111 airstrikes in Somalia this year, an unprecedented number as President Trump has dramatically escalated the US war in the country.
The figure is more than 10 times the number of airstrikes the US launched in Somalia in 2024 and more than double the 51 that were conducted throughout the entire Biden administration. According to numbers from New America, President Obama launched 48 airstrikes in Somalia during his eight years in office, meaning Trump has launched more airstrikes in the country just this year than Obama and Biden combined.
The escalation came after President Trump loosened restrictions on drone strikes and raids outside of areas not officially considered combat zones, giving US commanders more freedom to launch airstrikes. Trump made a similar move at the start of his first administration, when he launched a total of 219 airstrikes in Somalia. He set the previous annual record for US bombings in Somalia at 63 in 2019.
AFRICOM recently announced a series of airstrikes, including six days of bombings against the ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region and one separate strike targeting al-Shabaab in southern Somalia.
Antiwar.com asked if AFRICOM could provide any information about casualties in its recent attacks, but it didn’t respond to the question. The command stopped sharing information about casualties and its assessments on civilian harm earlier this year.
US-backed forces in Puntland said on Monday that they were deploying additional forces to the Caal-Miskaad mountains, where they have been fighting against the small Somali ISIS affiliate, which is based in caves in the remote region. The commander of AFRICOM, Gen. Dagvin Anderson, recently visited Puntland and called for “intensifying operations” in the region. His visit was followed by several days of US airstrikes.
