Somalia defends Turkish drone strike Puntland says killed civilians

On Aug 23, 2026

MOADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s State Minister of Defense, Omar Ali Abdi, on Saturday broke the federal government’s silence over alleged Turkish drone strike that killed at least four people off the coast of Garmaal, in Puntland’s Nugaal region, defending the operation while questioning Puntland’s account that the victims were civilian fishermen rather than pirates.

Speaking to journalists in Mogadishu, Abdi said the federal government had prior knowledge of the strike and asked whether Puntland authorities had evidence that those killed were in fact civilians and not pirates. His remarks marked the first time Somalia’s federal government has publicly addressed the incident since reports of the strike first surfaced on August 18.

Early media accounts had reported that the strike targeted and killed four pirates allegedly involved in the hijacking of the Cameroon-flagged vessel LUTUF, which was transporting weapons and communications equipment destined for Turkey’s military base in Mogadishu. Subsequent reporting, however, cast doubt on that account, with later reports identifying all those killed as civilians.

The shifting narrative drew a sharp rebuke from Somalia’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdisaed Muse, who accused Turkey of carrying out what he described as a “massacre.”

Facing mounting public pressure, Puntland authorities issued a statement on Friday formally identifying the victims as civilians and calling on the country responsible for the strike to explain why it had targeted them. The regional administration described the killings as intolerable and warned that the incident risked damaging cooperation between its security agencies and international partners engaged in combating piracy in Somali waters and the wider Gulf of Aden.

Puntland further alleged that external actors were supporting piracy activity in the region in an effort to damage the administration’s reputation and undermine its progress on security.

Turkey, toward which fingers have so far been pointed over the strike, has not issued any public comment on the incident. Somalia’s federal government, meanwhile, has defended the operation, stating that it was informed of the strike in advance.

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