AFRICOM Claims to Have Conducted 63 Airstrikes in Somalia This Year 2026

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The U.S. Africa Command has confirmed that it has conducted 63 airstrikes in Somalia since the beginning of the year 2026, according to a response provided to the security program of the New America Foundation.

The number of 63 airstrikes emerged amid reports of an air attack that occurred on May 21st near the town of Qandala in the Bari region, which reportedly resulted in the deaths of four civilians. The report of that incident was published by the Somali Guardian media, however, it did not directly blame the United States, noting that various countries are conducting airstrikes in Somalia.

AFRICOM stated that the 63 attacks it recorded do not include the airstrike that reportedly occurred on May 21st. The command also informed New America that it did not conduct any attack in the area mentioned in that incident.

New data may also indicate a decrease in the pace of U.S. airstrikes in Somalia. The last airstrike officially announced by AFRICOM occurred on May 6th, when the U.S. stated it targeted fighters from the ISIS group in Somalia near the Golis mountains, approximately 75 kilometers southeast of the city of Bosaso.

According to New America’s statistics, that airstrike was the 63rd that AFRICOM announced this year. If no other airstrikes have been conducted since then, the U.S. carried out only two attacks in May, which is below the levels of previous months. As collected data shows, AFRICOM announced 26 airstrikes in January, 16 in February, seven in March, and 12 in April.

On the other hand, New America reported that it has recorded 64 suspected U.S. airstrikes in Somalia this year, which is one more than the number reported by AFRICOM.

The difference between the two counts relates to an airstrike that reportedly occurred on April 22nd in the Calmiskaad mountains of Puntland. At that time, the media covering the counter-terrorism operations in Puntland released images showing the bodies of fighters, claiming that the U.S. participated in an airstrike targeting a hideout of ISIS members. However, AFRICOM has explicitly denied conducting that attack.

The United States has been conducting operations against militant groups in Somalia for over twenty years, particularly against Al-Shabaab and ISIS, with airstrikes still being a significant part of Washington's counter-terrorism strategy in the Horn of Africa.