Somalia: Puntland State Leader Says Foreign Powers Are Using Piracy to Access Coastal Resources
GARACAD, Somalia — Puntland State President Said Abdullahi Deni has accused foreign countries of invoking the threat of Somali piracy to position forces along Puntland State’s coast and gain access to the region’s maritime resources.
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Addressing residents in Garacad city, Deni said Puntland State would reject any attempt to use anti-piracy operations as a justification for stationing foreign troops in its waters.
“We are being told that Puntland State has failed to defend against piracy, and then foreign forces are brought to the coast to take our resources,” Deni said.
Deni said Puntland State residents would not tolerate civilian deaths during anti-piracy operations. He also maintained that his administration could confront piracy without foreign military intervention.
The president pointed to earlier foreign missions along Somalia’s coastline, arguing that the country’s marine resources were depleted during periods when international forces were conducting anti-piracy operations.
He urged Puntland State residents and the international community to back efforts to combat piracy, while cautioning that the issue must not be used to enable foreign interference or the exploitation of the region’s resources.
Puntland State authorities have previously accused Somalia’s term-ended federal government of helping fuel the renewed piracy threat, which has grown more active along the country’s coastline in recent months.
Somali pirate groups are currently holding six merchant vessels and more than 90 seafarers captive, representing the highest level of piracy activity off Somalia’s coast in 13 years.
Reports highlighted by Seatrade Maritime identify the six hijacked vessels held by pirates as Honour 25, Sward, which was reportedly being used as a mothership, Eureka Asana, Lutuf and Seamull, the tanker most recently seized on August 20, 2026.
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