The US carried out a series of airstrikes against an ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland state, the Somali news site Horsheed Media has reported, as the Trump administration continues a record-breaking bombing campaign in the country.
So far, the strikes haven’t been confirmed by the US, though US Africa Command typically announces airstrikes a few days after they’re launched. The Horseed report cited “field and security sources” who said the US attacks targeted suspected ISIS positions in the Bari region near strategic areas controlled by local Puntland forces.
While the US has continued airstrikes against al-Shabaab in Somalia, AFRICOM hasn’t officially announced a strike against the ISIS affiliate, which is an offshoot of al-Shabaab, since May 6. Drop Site News reported that the US did launch a strike against ISIS in Puntland on September 3, suggesting the US has been conducting more strikes in the country than it’s acknowledging.
As part of its escalated war in Somalia, the US is establishing a military base in Bosaso, a port city on the Gulf of Aden, under a deal the US signed with the local Puntland government. While the base suggests more US escalations in Somalia, the location could also be used as a launchpad for operations against Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, in Yemen.
The last US airstrike in Somalia announced by AFRICOM took place on November 5, and the command said it targeted al-Shabaab in southern Somalia.
Based on AFRICOM’s official numbers, the November 5 strike marked the 91st US airstrike in Somalia this year, more than the US ever launched before 2025, when President Trump shattered the previous record for annual US strikes by launching 124. The previous record, which he set in 2019, was 63. Despite the massive escalation, the US air war receives virtually no media coverage in the US.
