11 Al-Shabaab militants, including senior leader, killed in airstrike
Somalia has revealed that counter terrorism operations done in collaboration with AFRICOM have seen more than twenty successful joint strikes conducted in 2025 alone.
The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) of Somalia has announced the killing of 11 Al-Shabaab militants, including a senior leader.
The killing followed a series of coordinated operations carried out in the Hiran, Middle Shabelle, and Galgaduud regions over the past three days by NISA in collaboration with international partners.
The operation, NISA said, also destroyed the militia group's vehicles and equipment.
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"The first operation, which took place on August 12, targeted a house in the Tardo area of the Hiran region, where a meeting of leaders and members working with the Khawarij was taking place. The operation killed seven members of the Khawarij while destroying the meeting place," the intelligence agency said in a statement.
Similarly, on August 13, another operation in the Darul-Nimca area of the Middle Shabelle region prevented militias planning an attack on the Somali National Army after receiving information about them, and four members were killed, including the leader, Abdullahi Ganeey, who had played a major role in leading the Khawarij group's battles since 2009.
In the third operation on August 14 in the Nooleeye area of the Galgaduud region, an Abdi Bile vehicle that the Khawarij had overloaded with military equipment was destroyed, which was being driven by militias planning to disrupt security in the Ceeldheer district. NISA forces succeeded in completely burning the vehicle and the equipment it was carrying, thus foiling the terrorist plot.
In the latest quarterly civilian harm assessment report period ending March 31, 2025, the US Africa Command says it did not receive any new reports of civilian harm from air strikes conducted in partnership with the Somali National Army in the country.
It also closed one assessment and carried over one open report from previous quarters.
"In response to information provided by civil society organisations, and after an initial review of that information, US Africa Command initiated a new investigation into an April 1, 2018, airstrike near El Burr, Somalia. US Africa Command had previously acknowledged that two civilians were regrettably and unintentionally killed in the strike... The US Africa Command remains committed to minimising harm to civilians and will continue to take all feasible precautions to prevent such incidents in the future,' the report said.
Meanwhile, the federal government of Somalia has revealed that counter terrorism operations done in collaboration with AFRICOM have seen more than twenty successful joint strikes conducted in 2025 alone.
"Terrorist groups gain ground only when Somalia's unity and territorial integrity are undermined. Any policy that weakens Somali sovereignty would only embolden extremists and threaten the stability of the entire Horn of Africa," the Somalia Embassy in Washington, DC, said on Thursday
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