United States Africa Command (Africom) conducted a precision airstrike targeting ISIS-Somalia on 10 June, approximately 72 km southeast of Bosaso, Puntland, in close coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, according to an Africom Public Affairs statement released from Stuttgart, Germany.
The mission, executed with no civilian casualties reported, marks the 22nd US airstrike in Somalia this year, signalling a sustained escalation in Washington’s counterterrorism campaign in the Horn of Africa. Africom said the operation was designed to “degrade ISIS-Somalia’s ability to plan and conduct attacks that threaten the US homeland, our forces, and our citizens abroad.”
While Africom did not disclose the type of aircraft or munitions deployed, the strike is consistent with a broader pattern of drone-based engagements that the US military has relied on to maintain reach and precision across remote insurgent zones in East Africa.
The latest airstrike came just two days after Africom Commander General Michael Langley’s testimony before legislators in the oversight House Armed Services Committee, in which he underscored the growing security risks emanating from African jihadist networks. “Africa remains a nexus theatre from which the United States cannot afford to shift its gaze,” Langley said. “ISIS controls their global network from Somalia,” he added, referencing the strategic significance of targeting the group’s leadership and operational centres in Puntland’s Golis Mountains.
“We’ve been pressuring ISIS in the Golis Mountains significantly,” Langley noted during his testimony, framing the strikes as part of a broader deterrence-based approach. “It’s been reinstituting deterrence in a significant way.”
The surge in Africom strikes—most recently visible through an uptick of 21 airstrikes between February and early June—illustrates a calculated US strategy of attrition and disruption. The operations appear carefully sequenced, based on intelligence coordination with Somali forces, and focused on dismantling ISIS-Somalia’s tactical infrastructure before it can mature into a transnational threat.
“This is about achieving peace through strength,” General Langley told lawmakers, reiterating Africom’s philosophy that enduring stability comes through targeted, coordinated, and lawful military action. The choice of Bosaso and surrounding terrain also underlines Africom’s view of geography as critical: the Golis Mountains and coastal access routes are key to ISIS-Somalia’s cross-border mobility and external plotting potential.
The 10 June airstrike further contextualizes Langley’s appeal for sustained US engagement on the continent. Warning lawmakers of a “dangerous gap” in US strategic awareness if Africom’s resources are diluted, he cautioned against the notion of merging African operations under European Command (EUCOM). “We need theatre-specific expertise,” he said, warning that adversaries—including Russia, China, and Iran—are expanding influence through asymmetric tools such as disinformation, private security outfits, and state-backed militancy.
From a doctrinal perspective, Africom’s approach embodies elements of preventive deterrence. Unlike pre-emptive war, these strikes are not launched in anticipation of imminent attacks but instead disrupt enemy capabilities and momentum before threats mature. The reliance on local partnership also signals a cooperative security model, with Somalia’s government granting legal and political consent for the operations—legitimizing US involvement under international law.
Still, there are limits to kinetic solutions. While these strikes have succeeded in weakening ISIS-Somalia’s presence in Puntland, analysts caution that military pressure alone will not rebuild institutions or address the socio-political vacuum that jihadist groups exploit. The Somali National Army has improved in recent months, bolstered by US and Turkish training, but challenges remain in terms of logistics, governance, and reconciliation.
Nevertheless, the trend is clear: Africom is not retreating. The strike tempo, calibrated but consistent, sends a message that ISIS-Somalia will not be allowed safe haven to regroup. This latest mission on 10 June continues a line of aerial operations designed not just to disrupt—but to deny—the Islamic State’s East African affiliate the space to thrive.
In Langley’s words: “We do not take our eye off the ball. Africa matters—to our security, to global stability, and to the future of great power competition.”
Pearl Matibe is a Washington, DC-based geopolitical analyst and correspondent with expertise in foreign policy and international security, regularly covering the Pentagon and White House. Follow her on X (Twitter): @PearlMatibe.
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