WASHINGTON, 18 Dec. - (ANA) - It’s been a record year for U.S. airstrikes on militants in Somalia, with at least 114 to date, according to a detailed running tally compiled by researchers at the Washington-based New America think tank. The second-busiest year—in a campaign that stretches back to 2003—was 2019 with 66 recorded strikes. 

 

The most recent declared strike occurred Sunday, though it’s unclear if it resulted in any casualties, according to the press release from U.S. officials at Africa Command. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” AFRICOM noted in a change of transparency that’s become a staple of U.S. military activity in Africa since about April. 

 

Not every U.S. strike results in a death, as AFRICOM officials told New America’s David Sterman. Still, according to his digging, somewhere ??between 115 and 292 people have been killed in those U.S. operations. How many were militants and how many were civilians? It’s unclear, and AFRICOM hasn’t clarified.

 

About 500 U.S. troops were stationed in Somalia earlier this year, and their attention has focused almost exclusively on airstrikes targeting either al-Shabaab insurgents fighting the government based in Mogadishu—in more than 40 U.S. strikes this year—or Islamic State militants lingering a bit further to the northeast, often around the Golis mountains in the semi-autonomous Puntland region. More than 60 U.S. strikes have targeted IS-Somalia, according to New America’s data. U.S. troops also conducted a ground raid targeting IS-Somalia in late July, the only publicly-known raid of its kind in 2025.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/18 December 2025 - - -