President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes targeting ISIS leaders in Somalia on Saturday, claiming the strikes were a significant step in dismantling the terrorist group's operations in the region. Trump took to Truth Social to emphasize the importance of ongoing efforts to combat ISIS, who were hiding in caves. He highlighted his administration’s aggressive stance on counterterrorism, reiterating his administration’s continued efforts to assert that the U.S. remains committed to confronting terrorist threats wherever they arise.
“Our initial assessment is that multiple operatives were killed in the airstrikes, and no civilians were harmed. This action further degrades ISIS’s ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians and sends a clear signal that the United States always stands ready to find and eliminate terrorists who threaten the United States and our allies, even as we conduct robust border-protection and many other operations under President Trump’s leadership,” a statement read.
Trump confirmed that the strikes killed the terrorists without harming civilians.
“These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The strikes destroyed the caves they live in and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes by U.S. Africa Command were directed by the president and coordinated with the Somalian government.
“Our initial assessment is that multiple operatives were killed in the airstrikes, and no civilians were harmed,” Hegseth said in a statement.
U.S. military officials have often raised concerns about ISIS cells in Somalia, warning that the terrorist group’s leadership, now based in northern Somalia, has been increasingly directing these cells with new tactics, including guidance on kidnapping Westerners for ransom, improving military strategies, evading drone surveillance, and constructing small quadcopters.
Trump criticized former President Joe Biden, saying he and his “cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done.” In part, the president had one warning for ISIS and other terrorist groups: “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!"