The United States military on Saturday conducted air strikes on Islamic State group targets in Somalia, President Donald Trump announced.
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.
" .. I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia," Trump said on Truth Social.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes targeted IS-Somalia operatives in the Golis mountains in semi-autonomous Puntland region.
"Our initial assessment is that multiple operatives were killed in the airstrikes and no civilians were harmed," Hegseth said in a statement.
"This action further degrades ISIS's ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening US citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians and sends a clear signal that the United States always stands ready to find and eliminate terrorists who threaten the United States and our allies."
Trump's words were repeated verbatim in a press release signed by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Islamic State has a relatively small presence in Somalia compared to the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab, but experts have warned of growing activity.
"The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that 'WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!'" Trump said in his post.
In an interview with the Washington Post on 31 January, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had said that "The United States is supporting us in intelligence gathering, logistical support, aerial support, surveillance and sometimes even preempting certain attacks of al-Shabab on our forces. However, adding that "there are no American soldiers fighting on the ground."
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.
(With newswires)
