US Africa Command announced on Monday that its forces launched an airstrike in northeast Somalia’s Puntland region as the Trump administration continues to bomb the country at a record pace.
As usual, AFRICOM offered no details on the strike, saying only that it targeted the ISIS affiliate in Puntland and that it was launched to the southeast of the port city of Bosasso. Since April, the command has stopped sharing estimates on casualties or assessments of potential civilian harm.
AFRICOM also said the strike was launched in “coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia,” although the US-backed government, which is based in Mogadishu, does not control Puntland, as the state withdrew from the federal system last year after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made changes to the constitution that Puntland’s government didn’t support.
The US has been backing local Puntland forces who have been fighting against ISIS. Garowe Online, a media outlet based in Puntland, reported on Saturday that local forces claimed to have killed several senior ISIS leaders in its ongoing offensive in the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, the same area where the US has been launching airstrikes.
The US has also been supporting the Federal Government in its fight against al-Shabaab, which has been on the offensive in southern and central Somalia. Garowe Online reported on Monday that al-Shabaab had captured a key town in Somalia’s central Hiraan region after launching a multi-pronged assault against US-backed forces, which included a suicide car bombing.
Al-Shabaab claimed to have killed 40 government soldiers in the assault. So far, the Federal Government hasn’t issued an official statement on the assault, while Somali state media reported that the al-Shabaab attack was repelled.
Last week, AFRICOM announced that it launched multiple airstrikes against al-Shabaab in southern Somalia from June 27 to June 30 during a significant battle in the area. AFRICOM didn’t specify the number of strikes it launched and hasn’t responded to inquiries from Antiwar.com requesting more details.
The July 6 bombing in Puntland and the airstrikes launched against al-Shabaab last week bring the total number of US airstrikes in Somalia so far this year to at least 47. Antiwar.com reached the number by counting the multiple airstrikes launched against al-Shabaab from June 27 to June 30 as two separate strikes, but the real figure is likely higher.
The Trump administration is well on its way to breaking the annual record for airstrikes in Somalia, which President Trump set at 63 during his first term in 2019.
