US Africa Command has announced at least four more airstrikes in Somalia as the Trump administration continues to bomb the country at a record pace with virtually no media coverage in the United States.
AFRICOM said in one press release that its forces launched airstrikes against the ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeast Puntland region on December 15 and December 16. It said the attacks were launched about 43 miles to the southeast of the Gulf of Aden port city of Bosaso, where the US has been backing local Puntland forces in a fight against ISIS militants based in caves.
The command provided no additional details and has stopped sharing information on casualties or assessments of potential civilian harm since earlier this year. US-backed Puntland forces haven’t issued any statements on military operations in recent days. The Puntland Counterterrorism Operations Telegram account occasionally releases images of the dead bodies of alleged ISIS fighters who were killed in US-backed operations.
AFRICOM also released two separate press releases announcing airstrikes against al-Shabaab on December 15 in an area about 30 miles to the northeast of the port city of Kismayo in southern Somalia’s Jubaland region. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said in both releases.
The bombings bring the total number of airstrikes launched by AFRICOM in Somalia this year to 116, an unprecedented number. According to New America, an organization that tracks the air war, the figure is more than the total number of airstrikes launched in Somalia during the administrations of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush combined.
The latest airstrike comes amid reports of civilian casualties in recent operations conducted by the US and US-backed forces in southern Somalia. Last week, local media reported that more than 30 civilians were killed by an attack on a village near Mogadishu that was carried out by a US-trained Somali government force.
On November 15, US airstrikes and US-backed Somali ground forces targeted the village of Jamame, which is near Kismayo. The attack killed at least 11 civilians, including seven children, according to a report from Drop Site News.
A US airstrike in Somalia’s northern Sanag region, west of Puntland, that was launched on September 13, also killed a civilian clan leader who was known for his peace efforts, according to family members, local officials, and a committee that investigated the airstrike. AFRICOM claimed he was an al-Shabaab weapons dealer, but has provided no evidence to back up the assertion.
