The U.S. Africa command (AFRICOM) conducted an airstrike on 16 February 2025 targeting Islamic State in Somalia (IS-Somalia). This operations came two weeks after a large-scale operation that killed Ahmed Maeleninine, a key figure within the group.
According to AFRICOM two suspected IS-Somalia militants were killed in the north-eastern region of Puntland, Somalia in this latest strike. AFRICOM said no civilians were harmed in the strike.
“Degrading ISIS and other terrorist organizations’ ability to plot and conduct attacks that threaten the U.S. homeland, our partners, and civilians remains central to U.S. Africa Command’s mission” the command said in a statement.
This strike follows a large-scale operation on 1 February 2025 in which U.S. forces targeted a network of cave complexes approximately 80km southeast of Bosaso. The strikes eliminated 14 members of IS-Somalia, including Ahmed Maeleninine. Maeleninine was described by AFRICOM as a high-ranking recruiter, financier, and planner responsible for external operations, including the dispatch of fighters to the U.S. and Europe. Maeleninine was reportedly the main target of the February 1st strikes. In an interview with VOA Somalia, the Puntland state minister for Presidency Abdiftah Mohamed Abdinur is quoted as stating that Somalia and its international security partners had been watching Maeleninine’s movements in the region. “He was Omani-born man in his 40s who was wanted for international crimes and his movements and activities have been followed for the last two years, as he was hiding in the mountainous area of Puntland” Abdinur said. “He was a thorn removed from the flesh of Somalis and the world population, and he eventually tasted what he deserved”. Abdinur also stated that Puntland officials are still collecting the names and nationalities of the 13 other IS-Somalia figures killed and will share them with the media when their identities are confirmed.
These strikes have come as part of a coordinated effort to target the group alongside international partners such as UAE to assist Somali security forces in Puntland who have stepped up their efforts against the group in early 2025. The Puntland administration has been vociferous in claiming victories in the offensive against IS-Somalia claiming to have decimated the group’s command structure and to have captured dozens of camps and areas essential for the group’s survival.
Security forces in Puntland have arrested suspected Islamic State financiers and bomb experts in an operation in Bosaso in the north-eastern Bari region amid a military offensive against the group, the pro-government website Puntland Post reported on 18 February. Bari regional police commander Major Abdiqadir Jama’a Dirir said the operation was part of a wider crackdown against the group. “We are delighted to inform you that there is a massive war on Islamic State taking place inside towns corresponding to the one taking place in Miskad mountains. Several financiers of the group and others in charge of landmines have been captured” Maj. Dirir said.
Puntland’s Information Minister Mohamud Aydid Dirir said on 15 February 2025 that IS “currently controls” a 15km area in Al-Miskad and that security forces could conclude the offensive within ten days. “If the Daesh group is dislodged from that 15km area which they use as a hide out, there will be no place left for them anymore” he added. This was followed up with claims that security forces had seized a “strategic area” on 23 February 2025. The Puntland Post reported that “The Puntland defence forces have taken full control of the Gatir-Odan area after seizing Cuurar, an IS defensive position, which helped the troops to enter the area,”.
Recent IS Propaganda has suggested that the group has been fueled by an influx of foreign fighters. Security forces in Puntland have publicly announced the deaths of multiple foreign nationals amongst IS-Somalia’s ranks. The U.N. has also reported the group’s ascension is slowing and is having “difficulties in integrating fighters into narrow clan-based structure, cultural barriers and the severity of conditions, leading to sustained defections”.
IS-Somalia has become a key-cog in the IS financial network and is known to distribute money to affiliates in Afghanistan and wider Africa. The group has thrived under the leadership of Abdulkadir Mumin who U.S. officials believe to be the overall Caliph of Islamic State. There is increasing confidence in this belief amongst U.N. member states. Whilst some disagree, there remains a consensus that Mumin is a pivotal figure both for IS-Somalia was believed to have up to 1500 fighters, mainly operating in Puntland, however it remains to be seen what impact this “war” will have on the group. What is clear is that IS-Somalia is under more pressure than ever before and the long-term impact of this high level of attrition remains to be seen.
Somalia is believed to be the home of multiple high-ranking officials in IS’s global affiliate network as the Al-Miskad base of operations was widely believed to be a permissive environment, despite the 2023 U.S. operation which targeted and killed IS financier Bilal-Sudani. The loss of further financial experts responsible for the distribution of money to the wider affiliate network is likely to be of concern to IS globally. Its most pressing short-term concern is that security forces in Puntland are seemingly closing in on its mountainous strongholds and as such are potentially closing in on its global leader.