An aircraft carrying up to 50 people on the shoreline after veering off the runway during an emergency crash-landing at Somalia’s main airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, on February 10, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Palm Beach, United States:

The United States military on Saturday conducted air strikes on Islamic State group targets in Somalia, President Donald Trump announced.

“This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes targeted IS-Somalia operatives in the Golis mountains in the semi-autonomous Puntland region. “Our initial assessment is that multiple operatives were killed in the airstrikes and no civilians were harmed,” Hegseth said in a statement.

Local commanders confirmed the strikes to AFP.

“We don’t know so far the number of the casualties, but we believe the missiles precisely hit the targets,” Mohamed Ali, a military commander in Bossaso area, told AFP by phone.

“We believe there are casualties of the terrorist leaders, including the foreigners who the Puntland forces were chasing in the last few days,” he said. 

Abdirahman Adan, another member of the army in a nearby area, said they heard “five loud explosions” and saw smoke over the targeted area. 

Puntland has not commented officially about the airstrike so far.

Hegseth said the strikes further degrade “ISIS’s ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening US citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians and sends a clear signal that the United States always stands ready to find and eliminate terrorists who threaten the United States and our allies.”

Islamic State has a relatively small presence in Somalia compared to the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab, but experts have warned of growing activity.

“The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that ‘WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!'” Trump said in his post.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The Indian Navy has responded to an SOS by Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier that was seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia who took its 23-member crew hostage earlier this week, the Navy said in a statement on Friday.

The MV Abdullah was sailing from Mozambique’s capital Maputo to the United Arab Emirates with a cargo of 55,000 tonnes of coal when it was attacked around midday on Tuesday, the company said.

“On receipt of intimation, the Long-Range Maritime Patrol (LRMP) aircraft was immediately deployed & on locating the MV (Abdullah) in the evening of 12 March, attempted to establish communication to ascertain status of ship’s crew members. However, no response was received from the ship,” said the Indian Navy.

“The Mission Deployed warship on Maritime Security Operations, which had also been diverted, intercepted the hijacked MV on the morning of 14 March. The safety of the MV’s crew (all Bangladesh nationals) held hostage by the armed pirates was ascertained and the Indian Navy warship continued to maintain in close vicinity of the MV till its arrival in the territorial waters of Somalia,” it added.

Hijackings off Somalia since December have fuelled concerns about a resurgence of Indian Ocean raids by opportunistic pirates, coming on top of a separate surge in attacks launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

“A group of 15-20 Somali pirates hijacked the ship,” said Meherul Karim, chief executive officer of Kabir Steel Re-Rolling Mills, which owns the MV Abdullah vessel.

Houthi militia, who control a part of Yemen,  have launched scores of drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden targeting what they deem to be Israeli-linked vessels in response to Israel’s war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

International naval forces have been diverted north from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea, sparking fears that pirates will exploit the security gap.