During the visit, Gen. Anderson met with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Field Marshal Birhanu to discuss the growing threat posed by ISIS and al-Shabaab.

He later traveled to Somaliland to meet with President Cirro and General Osman, including a visit to New Berbera Port to assess its capacity.

In Puntland, he met with Vice President Ilyas and General Ayden, praising their ongoing maximum-pressure campaign against ISIS in the Golis Mountains and emphasizing the need to intensify operations.

Gen. Anderson emphasized that AFRICOM continues to provide unique capabilities and specialized resources that only the United States can offer—supporting partners, countering terrorist influence, and defending the U.S. homeland.

In a statement on Monday, AFRICOM said Gen. Anderson’s message underscores that the United States supports “maximum pressure” on ISIS, al-Shabaab, and other violent extremist organizations.

The trip aligned with President Trump’s priorities and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s guidance is part of a renewed push to reinforce Washington’s commitment to counterterrorism operations across the continent, with an emphasis on protecting the U.S. homeland.

“The whole reason I came here is because we have shared threats,” Anderson said. “I’m not new to this region; I understand what the issues are, and we’re here to help empower our African partners to address these threats in a united way,” the statement reads.

AFRICOM concluded that Africa remains a theater on which the U.S. cannot afford to lose focus a complex and evolving environment where security challenges extend beyond the continent, shaping European and global stability, including the security of the United States.

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The delegation was led by General Dagvin Anderson, Commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), and Ambassador Justin Davis, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy.

Their visit was described as “strategic,” as U.S. officials increasingly view Somaliland as a potential partner in safeguarding Red Sea and Horn of Africa security.

General Anderson emphasized Somaliland’s importance, noting its position near key maritime routes.

He highlighted that closer collaboration would support broader regional stability efforts.

According to a statement from the Somaliland presidency, President Abdirahman Abdillahi Irro told the delegation that Somaliland is prepared to “fully cooperate with the U.S. Government to strengthen regional security and enhance the prevention of growing threats,” including major-power competition in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, as well as the activities of destabilizing armed groups.

After meeting with President Irro in Hargeisa, the U.S. delegation inspected Berbera Airport, Berbera International Port, and the coastal areas around the port city.

Despite operating as a de facto independent state for more than three decades, Somaliland remains internationally unrecognized.

Washington has long viewed access to Berbera as strategically valuable, particularly amid concerns about Chinese intelligence activities in Djibouti, where the U.S. maintains its only permanent military base in Africa.

Somaliland has repeatedly invited the U.S. to establish a presence at the Berbera military base in hopes of strengthening ties and advancing its push for international recognition.

Wednesday’s statement from Hargeisa reiterated that link.

“The President of Somaliland noted that the security and strategic interests of the United States in East Africa are genuinely tied to the recognition of Somaliland, given that Somaliland is a country with a functioning democratic system, national forces that have secured its borders for more than 30 years, and a location vital to the American strategy of regional stability,” the presidency said.

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“The command’s initial assessment is that multiple ISIS-Somalia operatives were killed in the airstrikes and no civilians were harmed,” AFRICOM stated in a press release.

The airstrikes targeted the remote mountains of the Bari region, where Puntland state security forces have been clashing with ISIS militants since December.

The conflict began after the regional government launched an all-out offensive against the group, which had been establishing bases in the mountainous areas.

AFRICOM indicated it would continue to evaluate the results of the operation and provide further details as necessary.

“Specific details about the operation will not be released in order to ensure continued operational security,” the statement added.

In a related development, U.S. President Donald Trump, while at his Mar-a-Lago resort, confirmed the order for precision military airstrikes against the senior ISIS attack planner and other terrorists he had recruited and led in Somalia.

“These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our allies. The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians,” Trump posted on X.

Trump also sent a strong message to ISIS: “The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that ‘WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!’”

Meanwhile, regional authorities in Puntland expressed their appreciation for the involvement of the U.S. and UAE in the airstrikes targeting the militants.

While Puntland refrains from aligning with the Mogadishu government, they thanked Kenya and Ethiopia for their “invaluable support” in the fight against ISIS, while also praising their collaboration with the U.S. and UAE.

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The strike was carried out at the request of the Somali government and was a “collective self-defense strike,” according to AFRICOM.

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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who announced the operation, identified the leader as Bilal al-Sudani, a key operative and facilitator for ISIS’s global network.

“This action leaves the United States and its partners safer and more secure, and it reflects our steadfast commitment to protecting Americans from the threat of terrorism at home and abroad,” Austin said in a statement.

About 10 of al-Sudani’s ISIS operatives also were killed in the assault, which was authorized by President Joe Biden and took place Wednesday in a mountainous cave complex in northern Somalia, said senior administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Military officials had prepared for the possibility of capturing al-Sudani, but a response by hostile forces resulted in his death, the officials said.

There were no casualties among American service members or civilians, the officials said.

Wednesday’s strike is the third by U.S. forces in Somalia since Jan. 20, according to U.S. Africa Command.

From his cave complex, al-Sudani supported ISIS’s expansion and activities across Africa and beyond the continent by providing funding to sustain the organization’s operational capabilities around the world, including ISIS’s Khorasan branch in Afghanistan, one of the terrorist group’s most lethal branches, officials said.

Al-Sudani has a long history as a terrorist in Somalia. Before joining ISIS, he was designated by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2012 as an ISIS leader for his role in helping foreign fighters travel to an al-Shabaab training camp and facilitating financing for violent foreign extremists in Somalia.

Al-Sudani had a key operational and financial role with specialized skills that made him an important target for U.S. counterterrorism action, officials said.

The assault operation that killed al-Sudani resulted from months of coordination and planning across the U.S. government, the officials said. Once planning reached a critical stage last week, the Defense Department briefed Biden and other members of his national security team. Biden authorized the operation earlier this week.

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