The Americans are on a military sprint along East Africa’s Indian Ocean coastline. In one of the latest acts, the US Africa Command (Africom) launched airstrikes on May 17, 2025, against al-Shabaab targets in south-central Somalia.
The strikes hit al-Shabaab strongholds in Middle Jubba, destroying weapon caches in Bu’ale, Jilib, and Sakow. In Yemen, meanwhile, from its base in Djibouti, the US kicked off Operation Rough Rider in March 2025 - a blistering campaign of air and naval strikes against Houthi targets. They zeroed in on radar systems, air defences, and drone launch sites that had harassed Red Sea and Gulf of Aden shipping.
