Donald Trump has said he ordered military airstrikes on a senior ISIS 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.”
Trump did not name any of the people targeted in strikes. The US President ended his 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 statement, 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”.
Trump 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.
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.
IS in Somalia is notorious for extorting locals and mainly carries out small-scale, sporadic attacks, according to the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, external.
The president said the airstrikes had targeted the terror group’s senior attack planner.
Trump posted on X, formerly Twitter, to announce the strikes.
He said: “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. “
He added: “The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians. Our Military has targeted this ISIS Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done. I did!”
Sending a nine-word message to his enemies, Trump went on: “The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!”
In 2023 a US special forces operation ordered by Joe Biden resulted in the killing of a senior ISIS commander and 10 other militants during a raid on a mountain cave complex in a remote region of northern Somalia.
In May last year the US conducted an airstrike in Somalia targeting ISIS militants in a remote area near Dhaardaar. The US military said that the strike had killed three ISIS militants “with no civilian casualties”.
In a statement at the time, the US Africa Command said: “ISIS has conducted numerous attacks globally, including terrorist attacks in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, all while continuing to plot against U.S. homeland and personnel and interests around the world, as well as regional partners, and others globally. U.S. Africa Command, alongside its partners, continues to take action to prevent this terrorist group from planning and conducting attacks, which disproportionately harms civilians.
“Somalia remains central to the security environment in East Africa. U.S. Africa Command’s forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to degrade ISIS.”
The president’s praise of the operation and swipe at the previous administration comes just two days after he was widely criticised for his rambling statement on Thursday in which he suggested, without evidence, that diversity programmes may by to blame for the first major US air disaster in more than a decade.
Trump appeared before the press following the tragic air crash which saw an American Airlines plane with 60 people aboard collide with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers over Washington D.C.
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