Turkey Denies Role in Puntland Airstrikes, but Questions Over Its Presence Refuse to Disappear

Garowe (WDN) — Turkey Denies Role in Puntland Airstrikes, but Questions Over Its Presence Refuse to Disappear allegedly targeting individuals linked to the hijacking of the M/V LUTUF. Yet Ankara’s denial has done little to quiet the questions surrounding the attack.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official told BBC Somali that Ankara had no information about airstrikes carried out by Turkish fighter aircraft or drones along the Puntland coast. The statement came amid reports that Turkish aircraft and naval assets had been operating in the vicinity of the vessel after it was hijacked.

That coincidence has raised an uncomfortable question: If Turkey was not involved, why were Turkish military assets reportedly operating so close to the scene of the incident?

The M/V LUTUF, sailing under the Cameroon flag, was seized by an armed group near Marraya in Puntland’s Eyl district on August 17. According to reports, including an account by the Associated Press, the vessel was allegedly carrying weapons, communications equipment and satellite technology destined for a Turkish military training facility in Mogadishu.