IS has a relatively small presence in Somalia compared to the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab, but experts have warned of growing activity [Getty]
The government of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region said Sunday that US military strikes in the Golis mountains had killed “key figures” in the Islamic State group.
US President Donald Trump announced the air strike late Saturday, posting on the Truth Social platform that he had ordered “precision military air strikes on the senior ISIS attack planner and other terrorists” in Somalia.
IS has a relatively small presence in Somalia compared to the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab, but experts have warned of growing activity.
The strikes were carried out in a northern region of Somalia, where the Puntland Defence Forces have been carrying out operations against IS since December. The radical group is said to have established a presence in the Golis mountains.
“Recent airstrikes have led to the neutralisation of key figures within ISIS, marking a significant advancement as we progress into the second phase of our operation,” the regional government said Sunday, using an alternative name for the IS group.
It called the US involvement in air strikes “invaluable” and expressed “sincere gratitude” but the statement did not provide more details on the strikes.
A Somali government statement issued in Mogadishu said the operation in the Bari region was “jointly coordinated by the Somali and American governments” and had targeted “senior IS leaders”.
It gave no further details.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was briefed on the strikes on Saturday night, according to the president’s office, which added the attack “reinforces the strong security partnership” between the two nations.
He also expressed his “deepest gratitude” to Washington following the strikes in a post on X Sunday.
“Terrorism will neither find friends, nor any place to call home, in Puntland state and entire Somalia,” he added.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the “initial assessment is that multiple operatives were killed in the airstrikes”.
He added that no civilians were harmed in the strike.
According to experts and officials, IS in Somalia is run by Abdul Qadir Mumin, a Puntland native.
“He is the most important person, the most powerful one, he is the one controlling the global Islamic State network,” said Tore Hamming from the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR).
Mumin is among a few IS leaders who have survived US military strikes in recent years, said Hamming, “which does give him some status within the group”.
