US Africa Command said in a press release on Tuesday that its forces launched an airstrike in Somalia on February 1 as the Trump administration continues escalating its air war in the country.
The command said the strike targeted the ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region, where the US is backing the local government in its fight against ISIS militants based in caves in a remote mountain region. AFRICOM said the attack was launched about 25 miles southeast of the Gulf of Aden port city of Bosaso.
AFRICOM provided no additional details about the strike, as it has stopped sharing casualty estimates and assessments of potential civilian harm. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said.
AFRICOM launched a total of 26 airstrikes in Somalia in January, making the February 1 attack the 27th US bombing of the year. If the US keeps up the pace of 26 airstrikes per month, it would result in a total of 312 US airstrikes in Somalia in 2026, an unprecedented number. US airstrikes this year have also targeted al-Shabaab in southern Somalia.
The Trump administration has dramatically escalated the US war in Somalia as AFRICOM launched at least 124 airstrikes in Somalia in 2025, breaking the previous annual record for US bombings in the country, which President Trump set at 63 during his first term in 2019.
According to New America, an organization that tracks the air war, the US launched more airstrikes in Somalia in 2025 than were conducted during the administrations of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush combined. Despite the unprecedented bombing campaign, the US air war in Somalia receives virtually no media coverage in the US.
