The Elephant
Wednesday August 21, 2024
By Iqra Salah and Guled Mohamed
Türkiye routinely carries out drone strikes in Somalia but it has yet to implement a comprehensive system to address the collateral damage resulting from its military support in Somalia.
The sun had set for the villagers gathered near Baghdad village in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia. About 50 of them had gathered at Jaffey farm to break their iftar, the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily fast at sunset, unaware of the impending doom that hovered above. At around 8 p.m., they were hit by a blinding flash of light that illuminated the night sky, followed by a deafening roar that echoed through the village. Screams of terror pierced the air as the villagers scrambled to nearby farms for safety, their world torn apart in an instant. Two drone strikes had just hit them and intense ground combat between armed al-Shabaab and Somali security forces followed almost immediately.
Hawo Mohamed, a 25-year-old mother of six children, was hit in the eye by shrapnel and could not see properly; she ran and found herself lost in the farms as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. Her six children and husband were suddenly missing and she was forced to spend the night alone in hiding as fighting intensified. It was only at dawn that she walked back to the village and was told what had happened.
At least 23 civilians, including women and children, were tragically killed, and 17 others were left wounded in the Turkish drone strikes of 18 March that Amnesty International’s new report says must be investigated as war crimes. Hawo’s 11-year-old son and husband were among the dead while her four children were wounded.
“I am really hurt. I lost my husband who I depended on. He was just a farmer. I have nothing. Not even a house for my family,” says Hawo.
Somalia launched a fresh offensive in 2022, with Turkiye and the United States becoming the main backers in the fight against Al-Shabaab, a significant insurgent group that has carried out numerous attacks targeting government institutions, security forces, civilians, and even international actors. Türkiye and Somalia signed a 10-year defence agreement in February 2024 that includes providing maritime security to safeguard Somalia’s coast and territorial waters and investing in the East African country’s maritime resources.
Türkiye routinely carries out drone strikes in Somalia and has provided military training to special commando units such as the Gorgor (Eagle) Commandos but this latest incident has raised concerns about civilian casualties and the lack of accountability. Furthermore, the attack was on a minority group of the Gorgaarte clan who say that they were unfairly targeted and have not received any form of communication or compensation from Türkiye or from the Somali government.
“We have seen a pattern of civilian casualties resulting from drone attacks in Somalia for the past several years. Initially it was the US military that carried out these attacks, but now other actors like Türkiye are doing it. In only nine drone strikes by the US military, Amnesty International found 21 civilians were killed and 11 others were injured,” said Abdullahi Hassan, a Researcher at Amnesty International.
Despite the uncertainty regarding who conducted the drone strikes, the Somali Ministry of Information issued a statement the day after the attack stating that over 30 al-Shabaab militants were killed in the villages of Baghdad and Baldooska. It further stated that the operation was carried out in collaboration with “international partners”, highlighting the coordinated efforts to combat terrorism in the country.
Complicated role of international actors
The United States, Russia and Israel have long been a pivotal force in equipping fragile nations with drone technology to combat terrorism but recently, Africa has become the new playground for drones, with manufacturers like Türkiye, a NATO member, emerging as a significant player, supplying its Bayraktar TB-2 drones to countries such as Somalia, Djibouti, and Ethiopia, and in West Africa to countries such as Togo, Niger and Mali which are in the midst of counterinsurgency. These cost-effective drones are not only reshaping the dynamics of warfare operations in the continent but are also influencing the shift in the balance of power and geopolitical alignments.
For these African nations which have limited financial resources, drones offer an affordable way to enhance military capabilities without the high costs and long training periods needed for manned jet forces. However, experts warn that terrorist groups like al-Shabaab and the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) might use similar tactics to attack civilian and military targets, highlighting the need for stronger security and international cooperation.
The expanding role of countries like Türkiye in drone operations also makes it harder to assess and attribute the impact on civilians from such strikes. Data on Somalia released by Airwars, a transparency watchdog that tracks and investigates civilian harm caused by US forces, shows a surge in drone strikes in Somalia in 2023, with the number of such incidents increasing from previous years. This increase is primarily in the category of alleged strikes – those not officially acknowledged by the US or other actors. Unlike the United States, which has established various protocols and mechanisms intended to minimise civilian harm – such as post-strike assessments and compensation for affected families – Türkiye has yet to implement a comprehensive system to address the collateral damage resulting from its military support in Somalia.
In their final report dated 10 October 2022, the UN Panel of Experts on Somalia reported that Türkiye supplied Somalia with armed drones to combat terrorist organisations in the country. The panel of experts alleged that Türkiye violated the UN arms embargo by supplying armed drones to Somalia without the required notification and approval from the UN sanctions committee. Türkiye defended its actions by stating that the drones were delivered to a Turkish base in Mogadishu to aid in counterterrorism efforts and would be operated by Turkish personnel. This situation blurs the lines of accountability in instances of civilian harm. Therefore, the attribution of the latest strike is unclear, as the Somali government referred to it as an operation carried out by Somali forces with international support, while regional media said Turkish drones carried out the strike following an al-Shabaab ambush of Turkish-trained troops not far from Baghdad.
As Türkiye’s growing engagement in Somalia keeps evolving from a primarily humanitarian and development-focused approach to a “smart power” strategy that combines soft and hard power elements, experts say that these unlawful attacks need accountability.
Community demanding justice
After the attack in March, the wounded were taken to Madina Hospital in the capital Mogadishu for treatment. Abdirahim Yusuf, a 32-year-old civil engineer from the affected community who rushed from Mogadishu to help transport survivors to medical facilities says that the individuals killed were innocent, unarmed farmers, who are not involved in the conflict. As he reflects on that night he says, “This community was already oppressed. We demand justice for the victims, including compensation for their families and rights for the survivors. We also seek accountability for all parties involved in this attack and call for measures to prevent such incidents in the future.”
Farming villages like Baghdad are frequently caught in a perilous situation, squeezed between al-Shabaab’s occupation and extortion on one side and the dangers of precision airstrikes and occasional ground combat on the other. Recent airstrikes have resulted in the deaths or injuries of prominent Somali businessmen, doctors, and farmers, and destroyed vital infrastructure such as orchards and irrigation canals, triggering new waves of internally displaced persons and further destabilising the region.
Iqra Salah is a multimedia journalist focusing on investigative storytelling and Open Source Research.
Guled Mohamed is a researcher, interested in public policy and assessing the impact of social media and AI. Previously @Meta @UN
