Turkey intensifies air campaign to shore up embattled Somali president as civilian death toll mounts

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – An elderly Somali woman, Hawo Madow, is among the latest civilian victims of Turkey’s intensifying aerial campaign across southern and central Somalia, as Ankara escalates its military intervention in what appears to be an effort to shore up the increasingly embattled government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The administration is confronting mounting challenges from multiple insurgent groups and regional states across several simultaneous fronts.

Hawo was killed on October 27 when an airstrike struck the small village of Jameeco, approximately 160 kilometres northwest of Mogadishu, according to Suley Ibrahim Dhere, a resident of the village.

“Five people were struck in this airstrike. This elderly woman, Hawo Madow, was killed, while another young man is lying there in critical condition. Five innocent people have been affected by this attack,” Suley said.

The bombardment came just a day after a Somali National Army (SNA) convoy travelling near Jameeco along the Mogadishu–Baidoa highway was ambushed by Al-Shabaab. Several hundred soldiers were reportedly killed in the assault, which culminated in one of the most catastrophic military routs the SNA has suffered in years.

“It was carried out by Turkish aircraft. We have done nothing to provoke them, yet this is how they are striking us,” Suley added.

Like countless other Somali civilians struggling to sustain their families amid worsening hardship, Hawo continued to undertake everyday household responsibilities despite her advanced age. She was preparing tea when the airstrike claimed her life. Suley attributed the bombardment to Turkish aircraft, accusing Ankara of inflicting violence on innocent civilians despite its professed objective of combating Al-Shabaab.

Nasir, Hawo’s elderly husband, recounted the harrowing incident as he mourned his wife.

“There was an airstrike. My wife, Hawo Madow, was killed in the attack. Two other people were wounded. They are lying over there,” he said.

Asked whether the village might have been targeted because Al-Shabaab militants were potentially operating in the vicinity, Nasir emphatically rejected the suggestion.

“Not at all! We did not even see a single Al-Shabaab fighter here,” he said.

Hawo left behind three sons and two daughters, who are now grappling with the devastating loss of their mother while struggling to obtain answers about the circumstances of her death.

Mumino Osman Bashow, Hawo’s niece and a resident of Jameeco, described how the airstrike shattered the lives of villagers who had simply been going about their daily routines.

“We were simply going about our work, struggling to survive the drought, when the aircraft struck us,” she said.

Asked whether the aircraft that killed her aunt might have been targeting militants, with civilian deaths and injuries constituting collateral damage, Mumino categorically dismissed the possibility.

“We are not Al-Shabaab, and there are no Al-Shabaab fighters here,” she replied.

“If they want Al-Shabaab, let them go and look for them! We are just civilians working hard to survive. This village is full of people who have already suffered enough.”

Hawo’s death adds to the mounting toll of Somali civilians killed or wounded in Turkish airstrikes across southern, central and northern Somalia. Her case is emblematic of a broader pattern of civilian casualties involving women, children and elderly people caught in Turkish aerial operations. Some of these incidents have prompted human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, to call for investigations into potential violations of international humanitarian law, including possible war crimes.

The latest civilian death also comes against a backdrop of mounting public hostility towards Turkey, with anti-Turkish demonstrations taking place across southern and northern Somali regions in response to its increasingly lethal aerial campaign. The strikes have continued to devastate civilian lives, fuelling accusations that Ankara is conducting military operations with scant regard for civilian protection and without meaningful accountability.

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