WASHINGTON: US forces carried out air strikes in Somalia on Saturday targeting an “attack planner” and others of the militant Islamic State group, killing many of them, President Donald Trump claimed in a statement.

“These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our allies,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians.” Saturday’s strikes were carried out in the Golis mountains and an initial assessment indicated “many militants” were killed, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was informed of the air strike in northern Somalia, his office said.

Mohamud “acknowledges the unwavering support of the United States in the fight against international terrorism”, his office said on the X platform.

“This latest operation reinforces the strong security partnership between Somalia and the United States in combating extremist threats,” it said.

Hegseth said the strikes had degraded the IS’s ability to plot and carry out “terrorist attacks that threaten the United States, its partners and innocent civilians”.

“(It) 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,” he said in a statement.

The United States has periodically carried out air strikes in Somalia for years, under both Republican and Democ­ratic administrations.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2025