During the morning of Saturday, 01 February 2025, at least 14 alleged ISIS-Somalia (Daesh) militants, including at least one alleged senior militant commander, were killed in the Cal Miskaad range of the Golis Mountains, approximately 50 miles southeast of Bosasso in Puntland State, Somalia, in airstrikes declared by US Africa Command (AFRICOM) forces in collaboration with the Federal Government of Somalia. No civilians were officially reported as injured or killed in the strikes.

United States President Donald Trump was the first to announce the strikes, posting on Truth Social that he had ordered “precision military airstrikes” on whom he claimed were a “senior ISIS attack planner and other” militants. He also claimed that the strikes destroyed the caves “they” were hiding in without “in any way harming civilians.”

Various international media including Associated Press, NPR, Voice of America, and the Intercept, reported that AFRICOM and the White House initially refused to elaborate on the details posted by the President beyond what had been released in the official statements. Later the same day, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that the US military had conducted airstrikes against ISIS Somalia in the Golis Mountains, in coordination with the federal government of Somalia. Both statements mentioned that “multiple” ISIS militants were killed in the strikes and claimed “no civilians were harmed.”

According to The Intercept, a Somali Government official told them that “very little advance notice” was given by the United States Government regarding the strikes.

While various media sources speculated on the identity of the senior militant killed, AFRICOM later released a second statement on February 11 confirming that at least 14 militants had been killed in the February 1 strikes that hit a “series of cave complexes approximately 50 miles southeast of Bosaso”, and that the senior militant was Ahmed Maelinine, a “key ISIS recruiter, financier, and external operations leader”, alleging that he was responsible for “the deployment of (militants) into the United States and across Europe.” Meanwhile, the Long War Journal reported that security sources had allegedly provided them with unconfirmed information regarding the death of Abdirahman Fahiye Isse Mohamud, the “emir of ISIS Somalia”, in the strikes. HBN Online further reported on Fahiye’s death, and stated that 40 militants had been killed in the airstrikes, “including foreigners.”

On his Twitter/X account, on February 3rd, President Donald Trump released aerial surveillance footage, possibly from a drone, showing the strikes and the massive explosions and plumes of smoke that emerged from the impact. Using the strike footage, Twitter/X user @obretix geolocated the incident to approximately “35km south of Qandala.”

Garrowe Online reported that at least six airstrikes had hit “various locations” in the Cal Miskaad mountain range, “particularly in the Qurac, Buqo, Wangable, and Dhasaan areas.” Voice of America stated that according to the commander of the Puntland Dervish forces, the strikes hit at least 10 locations in the mountains, with anonymous local residents from the nearby Qandala town saying that they “could see from the distance plumes of smoke and flames, and that they could hear at least seven huge explosions.” The Long War Journal corroborated this, stating that according to local sources “at least six” strikes had hit “10 sites” in the Cal Miskaad Mountains.

According to the US Navy’s acting chief of naval operations, the incident was “the largest airstrike in the history of the world”, which The Intercept reported involved 16 F/A-18 Super Hornets delivering an explosive payload of “around 125,000 pounds of munitions.” They quoted a Navy official that stated the historical significance of the strike was in the time span – mere minutes – in which these nearly 60 tons of munitions were all successfully delivered from a single aircraft carrier. AFRICOM reportedly did not respond to clarifications regarding the quantity of munitions used to kill allegedly less than 15 militants, but The Intercept postulated that it could be because of the nature of the target location being complex cave systems in rugged mountain ranges. The New York Times further noted that the strikes had been carried out by “Navy and Air Force warplanes, including F/A-18 fighter jets from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman operating in the Red Sea.”

Somali government officials including the President, and Puntland security officials, expressed thanks to the United States for the operation, with the latter stating that it resulted in the death of “several high ranking ISIS members.” The Long War Journal noted that Puntland officials also thanked the United Arab Emirates in its statement but it is unclear what role they had in the operation.

Multiple international and national sources quoted the official statements while reporting on the strikes.