US Africa Command announced on Monday that its forces launched another airstrike in Somalia as the Trump administration continues its record-shattering bombing campaign in the country.
AFRICOM said the strike was launched on December 14 and targeted al-Shabaab about 30 miles to the northeast of Kismayo in southern Somalia’s Jubaland region. The command shared no other details about the attack, as it has stopped sharing information about casualties and assessments on potential civilian harm since earlier this year.
“Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” AFRICOM said in a press release.
The attack marks at least the 112th US airstrike in Somalia this year, more than 11 times the number of airstrikes the US launched in the country in 2024. The Trump administration shattered the previous record for annual airstrikes in Somalia, which President Trump set at 63 during his first term in 2019.
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.
The US has also been bombing an ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region, where a little more than half of the US airstrikes this year have been launched. The US backs local forces in Puntland since it’s not under the control of the Mogadishu-based Federal Government.
