US Africa Command said in a press release on Thursday that its forces launched airstrikes against al-Shabaab in the Shabelle Region of southern Somalia on September 9, marking at least the 75th time the US has bombed the country this year as the Trump administration has shattered the previous record for annual airstrikes in the country.
AFRICOM offered no details about the strikes other they saying they were launched in support of the US-backed Mogadishu-based Federal Government. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said.
AFRICOM stopped sharing details about casualties and assessments of civilian harm earlier this year, telling Antiwar.com at the time that it was withholding such information as the new Trump administration “settles in.”
AFRICOM told New America, an organization that tracks the US air war in Somalia, that although it stated it launched “airstrikes,” only one strike was actually launched during two engagements. AFRICOM told Antiwar.com on September 8 that it had launched 74 airstrikes in Somalia so far in 2025, and the September 9 strike brings the total to 75. The previous record for total US airstrikes in Somalia was 63, which President Trump set in 2019.
Garowe Online reported on Wednesday that Somali forces had killed a member of al-Shabaab who was allegedly behind an assassination attempt against President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The report said the operation was conducted in the Lower Shabelle region and was supported by “international partners,” suggesting it could have been the strike announced by AFRICOM, though it remains unconfirmed.
US forces at a base in Kismayo, southern Somalia, recently came under an al-Shabaab attack. AFRICOM said US forces came under “indirect fire” and that there were no casualties, rejecting claims from al-Shabaab that it had killed Americans. While the US and al-Shabaab have been at war for nearly two decades, al-Shabaab cited US support for Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
Besides bombing al-Shabaab in southern Somalia, the US has also been backing local forces in Somalia’s northeast Puntland region against a small ISIS affiliate in battles in a remote mountainous region.
