Pregnant mother, three children buried after Puntland State mountains airstrike

Wednesday May 27, 2026

Bosaso (AX) — Grief and anger swept through Buruc in Somalia’s Bari region on Tuesday as residents gathered for the mass burial of a pregnant woman and her three children, who were killed in an airstrike in the Haysimo mountains of Qandala district, according to officials and local residents.

Puntland State military officials said the strike struck a rural family in the area. Local accounts said the mother and two of her children died at the scene, while a third child later succumbed to wounds. The father survived but was injured.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the airstrike.

Puntland State authorities and international partners involved in counterterrorism operations in the region have not yet issued detailed public statements on the incident.

The fatalities have sharpened fears over the danger facing civilians who live near areas where Puntland State forces and international partners have been targeting ISIS-linked militants.

Residents and local observers drew comparisons to similar incidents reported last year in the Calmiskaat mountains, where rural civilians were killed in airstrikes that locals attributed to United Arab Emirates aircraft.

Puntland State has previously cautioned that communities near ISIS positions could be put at risk by aerial operations aimed at the group.

The Haysimo mountains and nearby areas in Bari region have figured prominently in Puntland State’s counterterrorism campaign against ISIS-linked fighters, who operate from remote mountain terrain. But civilian deaths in airstrikes remain a deeply sensitive issue for local communities, particularly in rural areas where families often live close to contested zones.