ISLAMABAD
\nUS President Donald Trump said he ordered military airstrikes on Saturday targeting a senior Islamic State attack planner and others from the organization in Somalia.
\n\u201cThese killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies,\u201d Trump said in a post on Truth Social. \u201cThe strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians.\u201d
\nSaturday\u2019s strikes were carried out in the Golis Mountains, said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who added that an initial assessment indicated multiple operatives were killed. He said no civilians were harmed.
\nAn official in the Somali president\u2019s office, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the strikes and said Somalia\u2019s government welcomed the move.
\n\u201cSomalia cannot be a haven for terrorists,\u201d said the official, adding that the impact of the strikes was still was assessed.
\nHegseth said the strikes degrade Islamic State\u2019s ability \u201cto plot and conduct terrorist attacks\u201d threatening the US, its partners, and innocent civilians.
\n\u201c(It) 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\u2019s leadership,\u201d he said in a statement.
\nThe United States has periodically carried out airstrikes in Somalia for years, under Republican and Democratic administrations.
\nA strike, which also targeted Islamic State militants, was carried out by the U.S. in coordination with Somalia last year. It killed three members of the group, the U.S. military said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD US President Donald Trump said he ordered military airstrikes on Saturday targeting a senior Islamic State attack planner and others from the organization in Somalia. \u201cThese killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies,\u201d Trump said in a post on Truth Social. \u201cThe strikes destroyed the caves they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-459187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n