Somalia strikes by Turkish drones killed 23 civilians, including children: Amnesty

ANKARA — Human rights group Amnesty International accused the Somali government on Tuesday of killing more than two dozen civilians in strikes by Turkish drones aimed at Islamist insurgents, saying the deaths “may amount to war crimes.”

The London-based watchdog detailed the deaths of 23 civilians, including 14 children and five women, in drone strikes on March 18 in the southern Somali region of Lower Shabelle, citing interviews with victims and eyewitnesses, as well as a review of satellite imagery and medical reports.

“Attacks that fail to differentiate between military objectives and civilian objects are indiscriminate and may amount to war crimes,” the watchdog said. The strikes wounded 17 others, including 11 children and two women, Amnesty added.

The Lower Shabelle region has been one of the worst affected by the insurgency of the extremist group Al-Shabaab, designated as a terrorist organization by the US government. In March, Al-Shabaab stormed a military base in the region, resulting in the deaths of nearly 20 soldiers. The drone strikes on March 18 came after heavy fighting between Al-Shabaab and Somali security forces in the area.

“The Somali and Turkish governments must investigate these deadly strikes as a war crime and put an end to reckless attacks on civilians,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa. “These horrific deaths must not be overlooked,” Chagutah added. “The devastated survivors and their families deserve truth, justice and reparations.”

Contacted by Al-Monitor, the Somali Defense Ministry was not immediately available for comment. 

“I am horrified by what happened to my relatives. This is inhumane. This is a massacre,” one of the unnamed survivors, who lost members of his family, including three children, told Amnesty.

Amnesty identified the bombs dropped from the Bayraktar TB2 armed drones as “MAM-L glide bombs,” citing photos of the munitions scrap metal. The rights group added that the bombs were also manufactured in Turkey along with the TB2.

Somalia is also home to one of the largest Turkish military bases abroad as part of a series of security cooperation deals between the two countries. Turkey has been training Somali troops since 2017, and it supplied an unknown number of Bayraktar TB2 drones to the African country to support its fight against terror. The drones are manufactured by Baykar, a company owned by the family of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, Selcuk Bayraktar. The two countries also signed a cooperation deal for Somalia’s maritime security in February.

Turkish aid workers, as well as security personnel in Somalia, have also come under attack by Islamist militants over the past years. One Turkish national aid worker was killed, along with at least one other person, in a landmine attack in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, last month. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.

Amnesty said it inquired in April with both the Somali and Turkish governments for details of the strikes, “including which military forces were controlling the drone at the time of the strikes,” but to no avail.

The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) also didn’t respond to Amnesty's questions regarding whether US forces were involved in the strikes, the report released on Tuesday said.