WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. airstrike in Somalia last week killed a senior ISIS leader believed to have played a pivotal role in recruiting operatives for attacks in Western countries, according to the Daily Mail.
Ahmed Maeleminine, identified as a top ISIS official overseeing recruitment, financing, and international operations, was the primary target of the operation. U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking him for an extended period due to his involvement in training militants to carry out deadly attacks abroad.
“This individual recruited terrorists from around the world, trained them to kill innocent civilians, and dispatched them to Western countries to conduct jihadist attacks,” said Sebastian Gorka, a senior counterterrorism director in the Trump administration.
Intense deliberations
The airstrike, conducted in Puntland, Somalia, followed 36 hours of high-level deliberations within the White House. Former President Donald Trump, who announced the operation on Truth Social, claimed the strike neutralized a significant threat to the U.S. and its allies.
“These murderous terrorists, hiding in caves, posed a grave danger to America and our allies,” Trump stated. “Our airstrikes obliterated their hideouts, eliminating numerous militants without causing harm to innocent civilians.”
The decision to authorize the strike reportedly followed detailed intelligence briefings with Gorka and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who presented the case to Trump in the Oval Office.
“We provided the President with intelligence on Maeleminine’s hideouts in northern Somalia and the severe threat he posed,” Gorka explained. “President Trump immediately authorized the operation with his signature Sharpie pen.”
Execution of the operation
On Saturday morning, around 9:50 a.m., 16 U.S. F-18 fighter jets launched precision airstrikes targeting multiple sites in the Cal-Miskaad region of Puntland. The aircraft, identified as Super Hornets, reportedly took off from the USS Harry S. Truman stationed in the Red Sea.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing massive plumes of smoke following at least seven consecutive explosions.
General Adan Abdi Hashi, commander of the Puntland Darawish Forces, told VOA that the strikes targeted nearly 10 locations, primarily caves believed to house foreign militants.
“We believe numerous fighters were killed in these airstrikes,” Hashi said.
The operation marks the first U.S.-authorized airstrike since Trump’s return to office in January 2025.
Gorka criticized the Biden administration’s counterterrorism approach, alleging a lack of decisive action against emerging threats.
“While the Biden administration allowed terrorist groups to regroup in Afghanistan and Syria, President Trump’s leadership has reasserted America’s commitment to dismantling jihadist networks,” Gorka claimed.
ISIS has sought new strongholds since losing its territorial base in Iraq and Syria. The group’s Somali affiliate has grown in prominence, with reports suggesting that its leader, Abdulqadir Mumin, may have assumed broader leadership within the global ISIS movement.
The Somali government welcomed the U.S. airstrike, describing it as a “significant step” in the fight against terrorism.
“We commend the decisive efforts led by the United States in combating terrorism,” said a spokesperson for Somalia’s federal government. “Together, we will continue to dismantle terrorist networks and build a future free from extremism.”