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By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
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The U.S. carried out fresh airstrikes on ISIS in Somalia on December 25, the U.S. military said, after several days of aerial attacks by American forces on militants in the north of the country.
Why It Matters
The U.S. has for years carried out airstrikes against ISIS members and sites in Somalia, and the U.S. military supports the Somali government in its own ground operations against extremist organizations.
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What To Know
The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said the U.S. had struck targets around the Golis Mountains in northern Somalia, south of the Gulf of Aden. The attacks homed in on targets roughly 90 kilometers (56 miles) southeast of the coastal city of Bosaso, the military said.
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The Christmas Day strikes followed three consecutive days of strikes in roughly the same area of northern Somalia. The military did not release any further details about the strikes, citing operational security.
AFRICOM has carried out airstrikes on ISIS-Somalia on at least seven occasions so far in December, and separately acknowledged at least five assaults on Somalia-based operatives for al-Shabaab, another jihadist militant group in the country with a much larger following than ISIS-Somalia and closer ties with Al-Qaeda.
ISIS-Somalia was largely formed as an al-Shabaab splinter group, fundraising and recruiting for ISIS as well as planning attacks beyond Africa, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). ISIS-Somalia pledged allegiance to ISIS a decade ago and is thought to have up to 1,500 fighters, the DNI added.
According to the International Crisis Group, experts say ISIS-Somalia is largely based in the northeastern Somali state of Puntland. Bosaso sits on the northwestern edge of Puntland.
The International Crisis Group think tank said last year that ISIS-Somalia had "refashioned itself as an important part of the jihadist group’s worldwide network" after years as a rumbling but long-standing threat.
U.S. airstrikes have previously targeted ISIS-Somalia chief Abdulqadir Mumin, as per ABC News.
General Michael Langley, the then-head of AFRICOM, said in late May the U.S. had completed more than 25 airstrikes in Somalia within the first five months of 2025, which was "double" the number of attacks carried out in 2024.
The U.S. also attacked ISIS fighters in Nigeria on December 25. U.S. President Donald Trump described the operation as a "powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum" in the northwest of Nigeria who had "been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians."
AFRICOM said in a press released that the initial assessments indicated "multiple ISIS terrorists" had been killed in the Nigerian state of Sokoto.
What People Are Saying
"AFRICOM, alongside the Federal Government of Somalia and Somali Armed Forces, continues to take action to degrade ISIS-Somalia’s ability to threaten the U.S. Homeland, our forces, and our citizens abroad," the U.S. military said in a statement.
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