‘We will find you and kill you’: President Donald Trump on US airstrikes targeting ISIS in Somalia

The United States military carried out precision airstrikes on Islamic State group targets in Somalia on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced.  

“This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia,” Trump said in a post on X, 

“These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies. The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians,” he added.

This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia. These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies. The strikes destroyed the caves they live in,…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2025

Trump also claimed that the ISIS attack planner had been targeted for years but accused former President Joe Biden and his administration of not acting quickly enough. “I did! The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!”’, he stated.

Somalia welcomes US military action

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s office welcomed the operation, calling it a demonstration of the strong security partnership between the two nations. In a post on X, it affirmed Somalia’s commitment to working with allies to combat international terrorism and ensure regional stability.  

The Pentagon has faced increasing challenges in Africa as key allies, Chad and Niger, expelled US forces last year and took over bases previously used for counterterrorism operations across the Sahel.  

US military officials have warned of a growing ISIS presence in northern Somalia, with cells receiving direct guidance from the group’s leadership on tactics such as kidnapping for ransom, evading drone surveillance, and using small quadcopters in combat.  

The Islamic State affiliate in Somalia emerged in 2015 as a splinter group from al-Shabab, al-Qaida’s East African branch. It remains most active in Puntland, particularly in the Galgala Mountains, where it has established training camps under the leadership of Abdulkadir Mumin.  

Counterterrorism efforts continue

Although smaller in influence than al-Shabab, ISIS in Somalia has carried out attacks in southern and central parts of the country and funds its operations through extortion, smuggling, and illicit taxation in coastal areas. Despite counterterrorism efforts from Somali forces, US airstrikes, and conflicts with al-Shabab, the group continues to recruit and spread propaganda.  

The International Crisis Group estimates the number of ISIS militants in Somalia to be in the hundreds, mainly concentrated in the Cal Miskaat mountains of Puntland’s Bari region.  

Saturday’s strikes follow US military airstrikes on January 30 in northwest Syria, where a senior operative from Hurras al-Din, an al-Qaida affiliate, was killed, according to US Central Command.

(With AP Inputs)