How Many Strikes Has AFRICOM Declared in Somalia in 2025?

How many strikes did United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) conduct in Somalia in 2025, according to AFRICOM’s own data? For just over a month, the answer was unclear, as AFRICOM published a number of press releases in which it did not state the number of strikes that were conducted.

Now, thanks to AFRICOM’s reply to a query from New America we know the answer. As of March 5, 2025, AFRICOM has declared ten strikes. AFRICOM’s count of strikes breaks down as follows:

On February 1, the United States conducted a single strike against ISIS in Somalia, according to AFRICOM’s count, but the strike involved multiple planes and munitions. AFRICOM has traditionally distinguished strikes based on targets with each target meriting a separate strike designation but with a single strike potentially involving more than one munition. The original press release and an update for this operation referred to airstrikes in the plural (although the title of the first press release did read “U.S. Forces Conduct Strike Targeting ISIS-Somalia”). However, based on AFRICOM’s March 5th reply, the command counts it as a single strike.

On February 16, the United States conducted one strike against ISIS in Somalia, according to AFRICOM’s count, and the press release regarding that strike referred to “an airstrike” in the singular.

On February 20, the United States conducted three strikes against al-Shabaab, according to AFRICOM’s count. The original press release referred to “airstrikes” in the plural, but did not specify the number.

On February 21 and February 22, the United States conducted two strikes against ISIS in Somalia, according to AFRICOM’s count. The original press release for this strike did specify two strikes.

On February 25, the United States conducted one strike against al-Shabaab, according to AFRICOM’s count. The original press release referred to a singular “airstrike.”

On March 1, the United States conducted two strikes against al-Shabaab, according to AFRICOM’s count. The original press release referred to “airstrikes” in the plural but did not specify the number.

Counting strikes is a complicated process that can be highly dependent on definitions, and AFRICOM’s counts do not always agree with counts based on reporting from the ground. However, AFRICOM’s reporting of its count of strikes is an important step forward for transparency. That said, the counts of strikes should be included in each press release, enabling an ongoing count of the number of strikes, according to the U.S. government. The public should not have to rely upon queries from non-governmental trackers to get the answer.