Donald Trump has said ‘many’ ISIS terrorists have been killed in caves in Somalia by US airstrikes he ordered this morning.
Posting on his social media site Truth Social, the US president said: “This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia.
“These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies.
“The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians.”
Mr Trump did not name any of the people targeted in the strikes, say whether the target was among those killed, or give further details about the location.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes by the US Africa Command were directed by Mr Trump and coordinated with Somalia’s government.
An initial Pentagon assessment indicated “multiple” operatives were killed and no civilians were harmed.
Mr Trump said the US military had targeted the attack planner for years, but former president Joe Biden “and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done”.
“I did! The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!”
US special forces killed a senior ISIS leader and 10 other militants in a raid on a mountain cave complex in a remote part of northern Somalia in 2023, in an operation ordered by Mr Biden.
A US military airstrike in the African country last May targeted ISIS militants and killed three, according to the US Africa Command.
US military officials have warned ISIS cells have received increasing direction from the group’s leadership that relocated to northern Somalia.
That has included how to kidnap Westerners for ransom, how to learn better military tactics, how to hide from drones and how to build their own small quadcopters.
There are estimated to be hundreds of ISIS militants in Somalia, mostly scattered in the Cal Miskaat mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, according to the International Crisis Group.
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