(Previous Incident Code: SOM152)

The US military carried out an airstrike targeting ISIS-Somalia and possibly also al Shabaab in the vicinity  of Timirshe, in the Golis Mountains.

According to a press release from US Africa Command issued the following day, three fighters from the terrorist group were killed, with AFRICOM currently assessing that no civilians had been harmed in the strike.

“This airstrike eliminated ISIS-Somalia members staged in a remote location in Northern Somalia,” said Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Gregg Olson, US Africa Command director of operations. “This is the second precision airstrike U.S. Africa Command has executed in coordination with our Somali partners against ISIS-Somalia this month. The first airstrike occurred on April 14, killing the second in command of ISIS-Somalia, Abdulhakim Dhuqub.”

Garowe Online had reported on the day of the action that suspected US airstrikes had been conducted in the Puntland area. Their anonymous source claimed that the strikes hit two “hideouts of terror groups” in the vicinity of Timirshe. Six missiles were reportedly fired – four targeting an ISIS base, while the other two targeted approximately 200 al Shabaab fighters at a nearby water well, it claimed – noting that “The locality has been the scene of recent clashes between the two groups who are fighting for control as they face intensified military offensives from Puntland defence forces and US military.”

Garowe Online also said that there were conflicting reports of the casualty numbers, with one local resident saying that “several militants” were killed. In a separate tweet, Garowe said that “The #Daesh militants were in… Ameero and #AlShabab in Siido, two valleys between mountains in #Bari province of #Puntland state.”

Reuters  spoke to an witness who said that missiles struck two wells on the outskirts of Timirshe village. “‘We heard the crash of four missiles on the outskirts of Timirshe village,’ resident Ahmed Nur told Reuters by telephone. He said the wells were used by militants from both IS and their more powerful Islamist rivals al Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate who have been fighting Somalia’s UN-backed government for years… A Puntland intelligence official said the air strike targeted both groups. ‘There are casualties and we are investigating. In recent battles al Shabaab captured three bases from IS,’ he told Reuters by telephone, requesting anonymity.”