By : Lloyd Mahachi
Donald Trump says he directed military air strikes on an expert attack planner and others from the Islamic State (IS) group in Somalia.
“These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies,” Trump posted on social media.
“The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians.”
In a post on X, the Somalian presidential office said they had been informed of the US strike targeting senior IS leadership in the northern part of the country.
Trump did not name any of the people targeted in attacks.
The president ended the post with: “The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!”
In a post on X, the office of Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he “acknowledges the unwavering support of the United States in the fight against international terrorism and welcomes the continued commitment under the decisive leadership of President Donald Trump”.
In a statement, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said “our initial assessment is that multiple operatives were killed in the airstrikes and no civilians were harmed”.
Hegseth said the strikes “further degrade” the ability of IS “to plot and conduct terrorist attacks” and “sends a clear signal that the United States always stands ready to find and eliminate terrorists”.
The government of Puntland, a region of north-east Somalia, thanked “international friends” who participated in the airstrikes that “killed high-ranking members” of IS.
IS rose to international prominence in the 2010s, particularly in Syria and Iraq, but now its presence is mainly restricted to parts of Africa.
The Somali branch of IS was formed in 2015 by a group of defectors from the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabab group the largest jihadist group in Somalia.
Trump in his statement on Saturday also took a swipe at the former administration, stating the US military had targeted this particular IS planner for years, but accused Joe Biden “and his cronies” of not acting quickly enough “to get the job done. I did!”
US forces killed IS leader, Bilal al-Sudani, and 10 of his operatives in a remote mountainous cave in northern Somalia in 2023, in an operation ordered by Biden.
Trump maintains he does not want the US involved in other countries’ conflicts, while Biden had wanted to wind down America’s involvement in post 9/11 conflicts.
But Somalia is seen differently by Washington. The US has invested massively in the country for decades, to contain the threat posed by al-Shabab.
Trump 1.0 saw him downgrading US outreach to Africa he hosted two Sub-Saharan African leaders but never visited the continent.
Trump 2.0 will likely view Africa through a competitive lens, due to US rivals Russia and China hugely expanding their economic levarage on the continent.
Editor : Josephine Mahachi
