Garowe (AX) — Türkiye has rejected claims that its aircraft carried out a deadly strike off Puntland State’s coast, where fishermen and suspected Somali pirates were reportedly among those killed this week.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official told BBC Somali on Monday that Ankara had no information indicating Turkish warplanes conducted airstrikes in the waters off Puntland State.
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At least nine people died Sunday in an airstrike on Jiifle, in Nugaal region’s Godobjiran district. No country or armed force has taken responsibility for the attack.
Puntland State condemned the strike, arguing that killing people without due process breaches international law.
Puntland State Deputy Information Minister Bile Mahmoud Qabowsade said that authorities should have followed legal procedures if the victims were suspected of criminal activity.
The Puntland State Ministry of Information said it had not received official details about the attack or a confirmed casualty figure, and that it had opened an investigation.
“We do not have much information. This information requires extensive follow-up. I hope that the investigation will be carried out in the coming days,” Qabowsade told BBC Somali.
Local sources said the Cameroon-flagged M/V LUTUF, seized by pirates the previous week, had been moved to the area several days before the airstrike.
Pirates hijacked the vessel on Aug. 17 near the Marraya area of Puntland State’s Eyl district.
An official told The Associated Press that the ship was taken approximately 3½ nautical miles from shore and was suspected of transporting weapons for a Turkish military training center in Mogadishu, as well as communications and satellite equipment.
The strike has renewed attention on piracy and maritime security along Somalia’s coastline, where Puntland State authorities have repeatedly raised alarms over illegal fishing, armed groups and the movement of vessels considered suspicious.
