Somali general says he survived F-16 strike on his home

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Former Somali Custodial Corps chief General Mahad Abdirahman said an F-16 fighter jet bombed his house in the border town of Dolow, an attack he said he survived and was meant to kill him.

Abdirahman, known as Shub, said the jet struck at midnight on Sept 3. In an interview with the Geed Fadhi podcast, he said he heard an F-16 roar over his house as he slept. When he fully woke, one missile had landed near his head and, within seconds, another fell in his bedroom.

Somali Guardian could not independently verify his account.

He did not say who owned the jet.

The government’s account

The federal government said earlier that it was investigating the incident and that an initial investigation showed explosives inside the house had exploded, rather than an air strike.

Shub rejected that account. He said he did not know how to make bombs, that his house had never been used for such purposes, and that only Al-Shabaab knew how to make them. He said he has no affiliation with the group.

Why he was targeted

Shub said he had done nothing against the federal government and nothing that could justify bombing him with a warplane. He said he was resting at his home in the border town.

The only thing he had done, he said, was speak in the media about what he described as land grabs by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Videos of his comments spread widely on social media, he said, and his voice was placed over footage of people displaced by authorities. He said the government was angered by this and that he may have been targeted for that reason.

Background: Turkish F-16s in Somalia

Shub’s remarks came months after Turkey deployed four F-16 jets to Somalia. The jets have taken part in air strikes against Al-Shabaab and against opposition forces to the federal government, including those loyal to ousted Southwest president Abdiasis Laftagren in Bay region. Shub is linked to Laftagren and is his father-in-law.

Informant and speaker claims

Shub said he believed the strike was precise and guided by an informant in his house, particularly his driver. He said the man had been suspected before the strike and that officials had warned him the driver could inform on him and recommended he dismiss him. He kept him, he said, believing that even if the driver informed on him it would not harm him, and not knowing whether such a strike would ever hit him. He said the driver is now in custody.

He also said parliament speaker Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, known as Jama TikTok, phoned Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to congratulate him on the strike on his residence. According to Shub, the speaker told the president that the reports from Dolow that had deeply frustrated him would now stop, believing the strike had killed General Shub.

Shub alleged that Al-Shabaab members are widespread in the government and hold high ranks, pointing at intelligence chief Mahad Salad, Minister of Religious Affairs Mukhtar Robow and Nur. He did not provide evidence for the claim that the three are Al-Shabaab members.

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