The main target in a series of U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State terror group in Somalia earlier this month is dead, according to the most recent assessment by military officials.
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced late Tuesday that Islamic State attack planner Ahmed Maeleninine was killed along with 13 other high-ranking operatives in the Feb. 1 operation, run in coordination with the Somali government.
In a statement, AFRICOM described Maeleninine as a “recruiter, financier, and external operations leader responsible for the deployment of jihadists into the United States and across Europe.”
Officials did not provide additional information on Maeleninine’s exploits.
Assessing the success of the U.S. strikes was delayed due to the location of the targets and the terrain — a series of cave complexes in the Cal Miskaad area of Somalia’s Golis Mountains.
At the time, a Somalia commander told VOA the U.S. strikes had targeted at least 10 locations.
Residents in Qandala, a small town in the Bari region of Puntland not far from the site, told VOA that they could see plumes of smoke and flames, and that they heard at least seven explosions.
Islamic State, also known as IS or Daesh, has increasingly played a key role in the terror group’s operations in Africa and beyond.
Since 2022, Somalia has been home to al-Karrar, one of nine regional Islamic State offices established to help sustain the terror group’s capabilities. As a result, IS-Somalia has become a key cog in the IS financial network, funneling money to affiliates in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Africa.
IS-Somalia has simultaneously become more influential under the leadership of Abdulkadir Mumin, a former militant with al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, who is thought to now head IS’s directorate of provinces, overseeing the terror group’s affiliates in Africa.
Some U.S. officials worry Mumin has risen even higher, perhaps acting as Islamic State’s top emir. Others disagree, but there is consensus that Mumin is nonetheless a pivotal figure.
Recent intelligence assessments have further warned IS-Somalia has more than doubled in size over the past year and may now have as many as 1,600 fighters, bolstered by an influx of fighters from Ethiopia, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania and Yemen.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier on Tuesday warned that Washington would not hesitate to take action against IS in Somalia and beyond.
“Where we see those growing, plotting or planning with increased capabilities, we will strike,” he said during a visit to AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.
He also said the U.S. is open to keeping in place about 500 special operation forces currently stationed in Somalia.
“I want to listen to the commanders on the ground, first and foremost,” Hegseth said. “The president, he’s charged me with, give me your best advice but also keep your ear to the ground of what’s most effective.”
U.S. President Donald Trump, toward the end of his first term in office in January 2021, withdrew U.S. forces from Somalia. Former President Joe Biden reversed the decision in May 2022, sending about 500 U.S. special operation forces to help Somali forces counter IS and al-Shabab.