Targeting Terror: Record U.S. Airstrikes Aim to Crush ISIS in Somalia’s Puntland State   

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The US Africa Command, which coordinates security on the continent, has significantly increased airstrikes against Islamic State militants in the Puntland state of Somalia, data obtained indicates.

According to the data, the US Africa Command carried out 59 airstrikes against ISIS this year, a record viewed as a strategy to eliminate the group. Airstrikes against the group in previous years were limited to a few.

The total number of strikes the US carried out throughout Somalia so far this year is 101 - the remaining 42 targeted the al-Shabab group, which is predominant in rural central and southern regions in Somalia.

The U.S. carried out at least eight strikes this month alone, including the last strike on Tuesday, targeting IS militants in the Mountains, where local Puntland forces have been fighting for almost a year against Daesh.

The Tuesday airstrike saw U.S. special operations troops and Puntland Counter-Terrorism Forces carrying out a pre-dawn assault on ISIS-Somalia hideouts in the Baalade Valley within the Cal-Miskaad mountain ranges.

More than 100 American operators arrived by MH-60 helicopters with MQ-9 Reapers overhead, striking cave positions held by about 10 to 15 ISIS fighters in the Bakuuje and Mareero areas of the Cal Miskaad range. PCTF pushed in with roughly 200 troops after several days of U.S. airstrikes that had already killed multiple militants.

The raid triggered two to four hours of close-quarters clashes inside fortified caves, including engagements with foreign fighters from Syria, Turkey, and Ethiopia. By sunrise, U.S. and PCTF forces had withdrawn with no reported American casualties.

Early results indicate a senior ISIS-Somalia commander and several aides were killed, along with a total of 5 to 10 terrorists. Forces also destroyed weapons caches and equipment used for gold-mining operations that funded the group.

In February 2025, President Donald Trump announced a covert operation in Somalia, which left several ISIS militants dead. This is the first time a US president has announced operations against ISIS in Somalia.

GAROWE ONLINE