Bosaso (Somalia Today) — U.S. Africa Command says it carried out a series of U.S. airstrikes on ISIS in Somalia’s Golis Mountains on November 19, 2025.
The command coordinated the operation with the Federal Government of Somalia. It targeted fighters from the ISIS-Somalia branch in the northeastern state of Puntland.
AFRICOM said the bombs hit an area about 60 kilometers southeast of the port city of Bosaso. The strikes took place in a rugged mountain range that rises above the Gulf of Aden.
According to the command, the operation aimed to reduce ISIS-Somalia’s ability to threaten the U.S. homeland, American forces, and U.S. citizens abroad.
In its statement, AFRICOM did not give details about the aircraft or units involved. It said those details would stay classified to protect ongoing operations.
Meanwhile, local security officials say the blasts struck near the Baallade Valley. According to them, Puntland forces have surrounded what they believe could be ISIS’s last major base in the north. The area has already come under several rounds of air attacks.
Commanders in Puntland say the caves under the mountains are deep, narrow, and difficult to reach. They stress that any ground assault must be carefully planned. A rushed push into the valley, they warn, could lead to heavy losses among their troops.
AFRICOM says it will keep working with Somali national and regional forces to maintain pressure on ISIS-Somalia. The command wants to make it harder for the group to regroup or plan new attacks. It has not yet released casualty figures or said how many targets were hit in the latest strikes.
U.S. and international security reports say ISIS-Somalia emerged in 2015. That year, a faction of al-Shabaab fighters pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. The faction then set up in the mountains of Puntland.
Analysts say the branch has helped move money, recruit fighters, and support the wider Islamic State network. They say it has done this even while under pressure from Somali forces and rival jihadists.
Earlier this year, U.S. airstrikes in the same Golis range killed what officials described as key Islamic State planners sheltering in cave systems. Those operations also involved Somali officials.
U.S. and Somali statements said the strikes aimed to disrupt external plots and back Puntland ground campaigns against remaining cells. However, security sources caution that capturing the Baallade hideout would not end the threat.
They say ISIS-linked fighters could still carry out sporadic bombings and assassinations. Such attacks could hit towns and key roads in the wider region.
Puntland authorities had not yet issued a detailed public account at the time of publication.
