US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a press release on Tuesday that its forces launched an airstrike in northeast Somalia’s Puntland region on June 4 as the Trump administration continues to bomb the country at a record pace.
As usual, AFRICOM offered no details about the strike, only saying that it targeted Somalia’s ISIS affiliate and that it was launched to the southeast of the port city of Bossaso. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said.
AFRICOM claimed the strike was launched “in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia,” but the US-backed government, which is based in Mogadishu, does not control Puntland. The US has been backing local forces in the fight against ISIS in the region.
Garowe Online, a media outlet based in Puntland, reported on June 7 that local forces had killed 35 ISIS militants in recent operations and said the ground forces were “working closely with US Africa Command.”
Based on AFRICOM press releases, the June 4 attack brings the total number of US airstrikes in Somalia in 2025 to 32. According to numbers from New America, an organization that tracks the US war in Somalia, Monday’s airstrike brings the yearly total to 38.
Besides the air war against ISIS in Puntland, the US has also been bombing al-Shabaab, which is on the offensive against the US-backed government in southern and central Somalia.
If the pace of US bombings continues, the administration is set to break the record for the most US airstrikes in Somalia in a single year, which President Trump set at 63 in 2019.