Report: U.S. Bombs Somalia in Anti-Islamic State Action

U.S. forces reportedly launched multiple airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Somalia’s Puntland region on Monday night.

Word of the airstrikes came from Somali media, with no immediate confirmation by either Puntland officials or the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

According to a report from the Mogadishu-based Shabelle Media Network, American warplanes bombed several areas near “key positions held by Puntland’s regional security forces.” ISIS fighters have been observed massing in those positions over the past four weeks, apparently in a bid to repel an offensive into the Cal Miskaad mountains by Puntland security forces.

The Puntland State of Somalia is a semi-autonomous region of northeastern Somalia, situated between the territory controlled by Mogadishu and Somaliland, another semi-autonomous area with aspirations to become fully independent.

Puntland has traditionally been less interested in full independence than Somaliland, but it asserted greater autonomy after a dispute over changes made to the constitution of Somalia by the federal parliament in 2024. The region has its own military, the Puntland Security Force (PSF), which began as a dedicated counter-terrorism agency in 2002.

In January 2025, the PSF launched a major offensive called Operation Hilaac against ISIS strongholds in the Cal Miskaad mountains, which provide abundant caves for the terrorists to use as hideouts. AFRICOM supported Operation Hilaac from its inception, including several publicly-announced airstrikes against ISIS positions in Puntland.

The Shabelle Media Network noted that ISIS forces have been on the defensive since September 27, when they conducted their last known attack on villages in the Cal Miskaad area with explosive-laden drones. The increasing skill of Islamic State fighters at improvising and deploying bomb-carrying drones has become a major concern for the PSF and AFRICOM.

Sky News reported last year that Puntland’s mountains have become one of the most important worldwide strongholds for ISIS since the collapse of its “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2019. Islamic State fighters have colonized the mountains, setting up farms and raising families in addition to their caves, and they actively recruit new fighters from surrounding communities.