INTERNACIONAL
Rising ISIS threats to US homeland drive AFRICOM airstrikes against terrorists in Somalia
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FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. is mounting an increasing blitz of air attacks and military missions against Islamist terrorists in Somalia to reduce the threat of jihadi attacks on the U.S. homeland.
The terrorists are said to be mainly affiliated with Islamic State (ISIS) or al Qaeda. This is according to U.S. Army Lt. Gen. John Brennan, the second highest-ranking officer at U.S. Africa Command, who talked exclusively last week to Fox News Digital.
Brennan, a former U.S. Special Forces leader who served in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, confirmed, «There’s ISIS-inspired threats. They plot against the United States homeland as well as Europe. So that’s kind of the nexus of the threat.»
AFTER TRUMP STRIKES ISLAMIST TERRORISTS, US GENERAL TRAVELS TO NIGERIA WITH MILITANTS ‘ON THE RUN’
U.S. forces conclude operation targeting ISIS in Somalia in August 2025. (Hannah Kantner/AFRICOM)
«So think,» Brennan said, «American citizens on social media get recruited to do bad things inside America. And then there’s ISIS lead and ISIS resource cells that are capable of larger-scale attacks. We’ve stopped, over the history since 9/11, a lot of those from happening, because of what we do overseas, so we’re playing the away game.»
He continued, «When you give a terrorist organization that has resourcing like ISIS time and space to plot and plan, those ISIS and terrorist-led attacks can happen. If they’re on the run, and they’re constantly worried about surviving, they can’t be as effective at planning and plotting.»
The U.S., with strikes and intelligence capabilities, is on an aggressive campaign to smash terror’s hold on Somalia, and stop the country from being what the State Department described in 2017 as «a terrorist safe haven».
File from a handout released to Reuters by IntelCenter shows members of Somalia’s Islamist rebel group al-Shabab in Mogadishu. Date unknown. (IntelCenter Handout/Reuters)
In 2025, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), working with Somali and other partners, carried out 124 airstrikes on ISIS-Somalia (Islamic State) and al-Shabab jihadi terrorists and their facilities in Somalia, 12 times the amount of missions flown under the Biden administration in 2024.
In the first month of 2026, the U.S. has staged another 26 attacks – 2½ more than the 10 that were carried out in the whole of 2024.
The focus of Islamist terror has moved from the Middle East to Africa, and specifically to Somalia, Brennan told Fox News Digital. «The caliph — absolute leader — of the global ISIS network, Abdulqadir Mumin, is a Somali, and he is in the (Somali) Golis Mountains along with a lot of his key leaders. And from that location they direct terrorist activities, not just across Africa. He is directing global ISIS operations that go to the Far East, Europe and the U.S.»
This picture taken on September 1, 2016, in Nairobi shows a computer screen displaying the portrait of Somali-born cleric Abdulqadir Mumin, accused of heading the Islamic State group in East Africa. He was put on a U.S. terror list. (Simon Maina /AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump, referring to Somalia in February 2025, posted on his Truth Social account, «The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that ‘WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!’»
Asked by Fox News Digital this week whether U.S. forces are hunting the ISIS leader Mumin, Brennan replied, «Yes, absolutely. We want to make sure he has no safe space anywhere. History has shown that the ISIS caliph ends up getting killed by us at some point.»
«We’re on no. 4 right now,» he added. The most notorious, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was hunted down in Syria.
Lt. Gen. John W. Brennan arrives in Nigeria in January for talks on advancing coordinated efforts to improve security conditions and protect vulnerable communities across the country. (U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Tucceri)
In Somalia, the Islamic State is represented by ISIS-Somalia. «We’ve had a lot of success targeting that network, ISIS-Somalia,» he said.
«We’ve taken large swathes of terrain back — our partners have. We’ve just enabled with intel sharing ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) and fires — airstrikes. About well over half the territory that ISIS Somalia once maintained up in Puntland — an autonomous state in North-Eastern Somalia — is now under the control of the Puntland Defense Forces.»
«They’ve conducted a massive amount of clearing operations, taking back terrain, capturing a great number of ISIS operatives, as well as a lot of their material. But again, our main mission is to secure the homeland — make sure that none of this threat migrates back to our shores. I think we’ve been pretty successful at that and if the PDF can continue what they’re doing, ISIS Somalia may cease to exist before too long. That’s our ultimate goal,» he said.
Soldiers of the Somalia National Army walk near Sabiid, one of the towns they have liberated from al-Shabab, in Somalia on Nov. 11, 2025. (Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images)
SOMALIS LIVE IN CONSTANT FEAR, DANGER AS DISTURBING REALITY HOVERS OVER THEIR DAILY LIVES
Al-Shabab, the local al Qaeda affiliate, is, however, still a problem in Somalia. He said, «In the south you have al-Shabab, and that threat has definitely morphed over the last year or so, as they are coordinating with the Houthis.»
«Not as much (an) external operations threat,» the general continued, «but in fact, al-Shabab is, I think, the strongest, largest, most well financed part of the al Qaeda global franchise and their desire is to take over Mogadishu and turn Somalia into an al Qaeda caliphate.»
The U.S. role in Somalia in 2026 is increasingly «remote advise and assist,» with most of the Somali troops using their own ground assault vehicles, Brennan said, adding that on occasion they provide them «with a ride to work» — transporting them to raids on U.S. helicopters and providing airstrike support.
AFRICOM provides advanced intelligence capabilities. Brennan said, «We’ve given them tools that allow them to see what the ISR aircraft are seeing. We can show them things on a moving map that they’re carrying on their chest.»
A soldier with the Puntland Defense Force fires a machine gun at a former Islamic State stronghold near Daabdamale, Puntland, Somalia on Jan. 25, 2025. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Ambassador Robert Scott, a senior career diplomat who was brought in by the State Department in 2023 to serve as deputy to the commander for civil-military engagement with AFRICOM, told Fox News Digital that governments around Somalia have been able to share the burden with AFRICOM — «not only Kenya and Ethiopia and Uganda, but also Somaliland, Puntland especially (and) also Jubaland. So (we are) finding partners who are willing to engage in the fight against both ISIS and al Shabab. I think it’s been very effective.»
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Brennan also says the U.S. military activity in Somalia could lead to huge trade potential. «There’s natural resources in Somalia that, because of the security situation, the Somalis have not benefited from,» he added. «Now the Somalis are realizing they may have critical minerals.»
«There’s LNG (liquified natural gas) off the coast of Mogadishu, so that our biggest weapon system, if you will, from an African perspective, is our private sector economy. If we can get that in there with private sector investment similar to other countries in Africa, that is a guarantor of security.»
africa,terrorism,isis,al qaeda
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Some of the top rumored Democratic potential candidates for president in 2028 are showing a united front in opposing U.S. strikes on Iran, with several high-profile figures accusing President Donald Trump of launching an unnecessary and unconstitutional war.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Trump was «dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want.»
«Let me be clear: I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice,» Harris said in a statement Saturday following the joint U.S. and Israeli strikes throughout Iran.
«This is a dangerous and unnecessary gamble with American lives that also jeopardizes stability in the region and our standing in the world,» she continued. «What we are witnessing is not strength. It is recklessness dressed up as resolve.»
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are seen in separate appearances as leading Democratic 2028 hopefuls spoke out against U.S. strikes on Iran. (Big Event Media/Getty Images for HumanX Conference; REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen; Mario Tama/Getty Images)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered some of his sharpest criticism during a book tour stop Saturday night in San Francisco, accusing Trump of manufacturing a crisis.
«It stems from weakness masquerading as strength,» Newsom said. «He lied to you. So reckless is the only way to describe this.»
«He didn’t describe to the American people what the endgame is here,» Newsom added. «There wasn’t one. He manufactured it.»
Newsom is currently promoting his memoir, «Young Man in a Hurry,» with recent and upcoming stops in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Nevada — three key early voting states in the Democratic presidential calendar.
Earlier in the day, Newsom said Iran’s «corrupt and repressive» regime must never obtain nuclear weapons and that the «leadership of Iran must go.»
«But that does not justify the President of the United States engaging in an illegal, dangerous war that will risk the lives of our American service members and our friends without justification to the American people,» Newsom wrote on X.
California is home to more than half of the roughly 400,000 Iranian immigrants in the United States, including a large community in West Los Angeles often referred to as «Tehrangeles.»
DEMOCRATS BUCK PARTY LEADERS TO DEFEND TRUMP’S ‘DECISIVE ACTION’ ON IRAN
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a leading progressive voice and «Squad» member, accused Trump of dragging Americans into a conflict they did not support.
«The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic,» Ocasio-Cortez said.
«Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead,» she continued.
«In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not,» she said, pledging to vote «YES on Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie’s War Powers Resolution.»
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker criticized the strikes and accused Trump of ignoring Congress. (Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Vox Media)
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, another Democrat often mentioned as a potential 2028 contender, also criticized the strikes and accused Trump of ignoring Congress.
«No justification, no authorization from Congress, and no clear objective,» Pritzker wrote on X.
«Donald Trump is once again sidestepping the Constitution and once again failing to explain why he’s taking us into another war,» he continued. «Americans asked for affordable housing and health care, not another potentially endless conflict.»
«God protect our troops,» Pritzker added.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro focused his criticism on war powers, arguing Trump acted outside constitutional guardrails.
«In our democracy, the American people — through our elected representatives — decide when our nation goes to war,» Shapiro said, adding that Trump «acted unilaterally — without Congressional approval.»
JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP STRIKES IRAN — PRECEDENT AND HISTORY ARE ON HIS SIDE
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro focused his criticism on war powers, arguing Trump acted outside constitutional guardrails. (Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«Make no mistake, the Iranian regime represses its own people … they must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons,» he said. «But that does not justify the President of the United States engaging in an illegal, dangerous war.»
Shapiro added that «Congress must use all available power» to prevent further escalation.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also accused Trump of launching a «war of choice.»
«The President has launched our nation and our great military into a war of choice, risking American lives and resources, ignoring American law, and endangering our allies and partners,» Buttigieg wrote on X. «This nation learned the hard way that an unnecessary war, with no plan for what comes next, can lead to years of chaos and put America in still greater danger.»
Buttigieg has been hitting early voting states, stopping in New Hampshire and Nevada in recent weeks to campaign for Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who has been floated as a rising national figure within the party, said he lost friends in Iraq to an illegal war and opposed the strikes.
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«Young working-class kids should not pay the ultimate price for regime change and a war that hasn’t been explained or justified to the American people. We can support the democracy movement and the Iranian people without sending our troops to die,» Gallego wrote on X.
Fox News’ Daniel Scully and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
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war with iran,politics,gavin newsom,alexandria ocasio cortez,pete buttigieg,ben shapiro,kamala harris
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Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday, calling the death, which came amid strikes from Israel and the U.S. a «cynical violation» of norms.
Putin made the statement in a letter to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that the Kremlin released to the public in the wake of Khamenei’s death. Saturday’s bold daytime strikes eliminated Khamenei along with several other top Iranian leaders, including the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
«Please accept my deep condolences in connection with the murder of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, committed in cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law,» Putin wrote.
«In our country, Ayatollah Khamenei will be remembered as an outstanding statesman who made a huge personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Iranian relations and bringing them to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership,» Putin continued.
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. (Kremlin Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
«I ask you to convey my most sincere sympathy and support to the family and friends of the Supreme Leader, the government and the entire people of Iran,» he added.
Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Amir-Saeid Iravani condemned the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes that rained down on his country throughout Saturday during a U.N. Security Council meeting.
Iravani accused the U.S. of undermining its claims of pursuing international stability while attacking a sovereign country for its «domestic» activities.
TRUMP TELLS IRANIANS THE ‘HOUR OF YOUR FREEDOM IS AT HAND’ AS US-ISRAEL LAUNCH STRIKES AGAINST IRAN
Demonstrators gather in Basra, Iraq, on Feb. 28, 2026, to protest U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran. (Haidar Mohammed Ali/Anadolu via Getty Images)
«Neither the charter nor international law recognize internal matters of a state as justification for the use of force by other states. The rule of law would be replaced by the rule of force,» Iravani said.
«Iran will continue to exercise its right of self-defense decisively and without hesitation until the aggression ceases in full and unequivocal terms.»
On Saturday morning, President Donald Trump ordered the execution of Operation Epic Fury, citing Tehran’s continued efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.
HISTORIC US-ISRAEL STRIKES ON IRAN UNDERWAY AS TEHRAN FACES REGIME SURVIVAL TEST
«It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon. I’ll say it again. They can never have a nuclear weapon,» Trump said in remarks about the attack Saturday.
Trump said the strikes were meant to «defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime» and that they had come after Iran had refused to abandon plans to develop nuclear capabilities.
This map shows the targets of Iran’s retaliatory strikes. (Fox News)
Iravani called the attack a continuation of longstanding U.S. aggression against Iran.
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«Mr. president, this morning the United States regime, jointly and in coordination with the Israeli regime, initiated an unprovoked and premeditated aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran for the second time in recent months,» Irvani said, referring to strikes the U.S. carried out against its nuclear enrichment sites last year. «The president of the United States and the prime minister of the Israeli regime have openly claimed responsibility for this act of aggression and have explicitly articulated regime change as their objective, an unmistakable admission of their intent to violate Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.»
Fox News’ Leo Briceno and Reuters contributed to this report.
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vladimir putin,iran,war with iran,ali khamenei
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