U.S. Africa Command attacked Islamic State group fighters in the Golis Mountains in northeastern Somalia on May 4, the 25th strike on targets in the country this year. (AFRICOM)
STUTTGART, Germany — U.S. Africa Command is launching airstrikes in Somalia at a record-setting pace as the military seeks to counter an influx of Islamic State group fighters, military figures show.
Since January, AFRICOM has conducted 25 strikes in Somalia, many of which were directed at ISIS militants, according to command strike reports.
If the intensity of the bombing campaign continues, AFRICOM will exceed the 63 strikes it launched in Somalia in 2019, the highest tally for the country in the command’s history.
“Yes — we’ve seen an increase in airstrikes,” AFRICOM spokeswoman Kelly Callahan said in a statement Thursday.
The uptick coincides with a January directive by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to grant more decision-making authority on airstrikes to AFRICOM commanders.
AFRICOM’s Gen. Michael Langley said during Senate testimony in April that those expanded authorities have given the command “the capability to hit (terrorists) harder.”
The most recent strike, which happened Sunday, targeted ISIS-Somalia fighters in the Golis Mountains in the northeastern part of the country. The flurry of strikes comes as foreign fighters try to gain a larger foothold in Somalia.
ISIS’s Somalia cell has grown from about 500 fighters to 1,500 over the past 18 months, with roughly 60% being foreign, Callahan said.
“ISIS-Somalia, as a franchise of ISIS, has benefited from and shared innovation, finances, and tactics and procedures, including attack plotting with foreign aspirants, with other ISIS groups,” Callahan said.
The expansion of ISIS in Somalia comes as AFRICOM also contends with al-Shabab, which the U.S. also targets with airstrikes. With an estimated 7,000 to 12,000 fighters, al-Shabab remains the most formidable terrorist organization in Somalia and the largest in Africa.
U.S. military personnel in Somalia have long offered various forms of support to the country’s shaky central government in its struggle to keep al-Shabab at bay.
AFRICOM’s ongoing missions there involve training and advising local ground forces, as well as carrying out airstrikes coordinated with the Somali government.
Langley said in his Senate testimony that the militant group continues to pose “a heightened terrorist threat,” especially because it has begun colluding with Houthi rebels across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen.
“We’re watching that closely,” Langley said.
Some security analysts have said coordination with the Iran-backed Houthis could give al-Shabab access to more sophisticated weaponry.
