Trump launches major attack against ISIS stronghold in Somalia

President Donald Trump launched a major attack against a senior ISIS attack planner on Saturday, while also slamming former President Joe Biden for 'not acting quickly enough.'

Trump, 78, took to X on Saturday to issue a damning threat to the senior attack planner, claiming the American military 'will find and kill' all members of the terrorist group 'who would attack Americans.'

'This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia,' he posted.

'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' he added.

The 47th president's post also slammed former President Joe Biden and his administration's handling of the terrorist organization.

'Our Military has targeted this ISIS Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn't act quickly enough to get the job done. I did!' he wrote.

There was a “real morale problem the last four years” because they would spend “12-hour shifts tracking and surveilling the worst jihadis out there who want to kill Americans,” and then “just pleading to do something about it,” but the “Biden White House and Harris White House were saying no.”

“ISIS has really eclipsed Al Qaeda in recent years and with the lack of leadership from the Biden administration—including the surrender of Afghanistan and the collapse of Syria, we’ve seen in the last four years an increase in the global Jihadi threat with ISIS in the pole position right now,” Sebastian Gorka said. “They developed in northern Somalia a refuge and that is the location that was attacked today in a surgical strike by U.S. forces. This is a cave system in northern Somalia. There were multiple ISIS terrorists who thought they were safe in this cave complex, but the main target was an ISIS leader who was responsible for external operations which means recruiting, training, and then sending Jihadists out to attack western citizens including in the United States.”

Trump did not name any of the people targeted or killed in the strikes, but ended his scathing post, writing: 'The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that 'WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!'

President Donald Trump launched a major attack against a senior ISIS attack planner on Saturday, while also slamming former President Joe Biden for 'not acting quickly enough'

Trump, 78, took to X on Saturday to issue a damning threat to the senior attack planner claiming the American military 'will find and kill' all members of the terrorist group 'who would attack Americans'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed the president's blistering message claiming that multiple individuals were killed in the strike and that no civilians were harmed in the operation - which took place in the Golis mountains in northern Somalia.

'This action further degrades ISIS's ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening US citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians and sends a clear signal that the United States always stands ready to find and eliminate terrorists who threaten the United States and our allies, even as we conduct robust border-protection and many other operations under President Trump's leadership,' the statement from the Pentagon reads.

Also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS is a terrorist organization that emerged from the Iraqi insurgency following the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

The organization rose to international prominence during the 2010s, particularly in Syria and Iraq, but now its presence is mainly restricted to parts of Africa, BBC reported.

The known terrorist group has since claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks across the world in 2024.

Authorities have noted that the man responsible for the deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year's Day - which saw a crazed ISIS supporter intentionally slam his truck into a crowd of people, killing 14 - was radicalized by ISIS.

However, while the President has issued several warnings to terrorist groups like ISIS, he has also insisted that the country should take a 'hands-off approach' to other foreign crisis.

Trump spoke to the ongoing conflict in Syria following the collapse Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime.

'We're not involved in Syria. Syria's its own mess. They've got enough messes over there. They don't need us involved in every one,' Trump told reporters on Thursday.

The organization rose to international prominence during the 2010s, particularly in Syria and Iraq, but now its presence is mainly restricted to parts of Africa. Pictured: ISIL fighters raising their weapons as they stand on a vehicle mounted with the trademark Jihadists flag at an undisclosed location in the Anbar province

The Somali branch of ISIS was formed in 2015 by a group of defectors from the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabab group - the largest jihadist group in Somalia.

In Somalia ISIS is notorious for extorting locals and mainly carries out small-scale, sporadic attacks, according to the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14350071/Donald-Trump-reveals-major-attack-against-ISIS-stronghold-slams-Biden-not-acting-quickly-enough.html

The office of Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he "acknowledges the unwavering support of the United States in the fight against international terrorism and welcomes the continued commitment under the decisive leadership of President Donald Trump".

The latest operation "reinforces the strong security partnership between Somalia and the United States in combating extremist threats".

The Somali government called Saturday's airstrikes by the U.S. "a critical step in our shared fight against terrorism."

President Trump is a man of action. He does what he says.” the president said.

The government of Puntland, a region of north-east Somalia, thanked "international friends" who participated in the airstrikes that "killed high-ranking members" of IS.

General Adan Abdi Hashi, commander of the Puntland Devish Forces said the airstrikes targeted at least 10 locations of the Islamic State militants in the Cal-Miskaad area, which is part of the Golis mountains.

"The strikes targeted about 10 locations in the Cal-Miskaad areas, most of them caves, and we believe that many of the militants were killed," said the general.

Residents in Qandala, a small town in Bari region of Puntland told VOA on the condition of anonymity because they feared for their lives, that they could see from the distance plumes of smoke and flames, and that they could hear at least seven huge explosions.

Officials from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region thanked the U.S. on social media, calling the operation a success.

"The latest airstrike, carried out today, resulted in the elimination of several high-ranking #ISIS members," according to the statement.

Most of IS-Somalia's manpower has been concentrated in Puntland, especially in the Golis Mountains, also known as the Cal-Miskaad mountains.

"The missiles precisely hit the targets," said Mohamed Ali, a military commander in Bossaso area,

Abdirahman Adan, another member of the army in a nearby area, said they heard "five loud explosions" and saw smoke over the targeted area.

Somali American Democrat representative Ilhan Omar, commended the strike, saying: “It’s my sincere hope that Isis and Alshabab will be defeated and the people of Somalia will see an end to terrorism.”

The United States used manned fighter jets to conduct the airstrike against Islamic State targets in Somalia on Saturday, three U.S. officials told ABC News on Saturday.

Notably, the strikes were not drone strikes but were carried out by fighter aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, which is currently in the Red Sea, as well as Air Force fighter aircraft, U.S. officials told ABC News.

U.S. military officials had warned that 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.