Minister confirms early KON report on Turkish drones used in Somalia war

Keydmedia Online was the first media outlet to obtain this information about the Turkish drones’ presence in Somalia airspace and it is now verified by minister Fiqi.

News Keydmedia Online
25 September 2022

MOGADISHU, Somalia – A minister has confirmed an exclusive last year report by Keydmedia Online that revealed the involvement of Turkish drones in the Somalia war.

Speaking at a TV talk show in Mogadishu, Somalia’s minister of interior Ahmed Moalim Fiqi announced that Turkey’s Bayraktar drones are now active on the battlefields and assisting ongoing fighting against Al-Shabaab, providing vital air support.

KON reported in December 2021 that the Turkish combat drone Bayraktar TB2 was deployed to Somalia following the visit by the country's army chief General Odowa Yusuf to Turkey.

Keydmedia Online was the first media outlet to obtain this information about the Turkish drones’ presence in Somalia airspace and it is now verified by minister Fiqi.

Somalia is not the first country in the world to operate the Bayraktar drones. It has already been used in a number of other nations in various wars, including the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Syria, Libya, and the Tigray conflict.

Turkey gave the drones to the Somali military’s elite Gorgor brigade which it trained inside its soil and at TURK-SOM in Mogadishu. No, Ankara was directly involved in the war on Al-Shabaab.

The $50-million- TURK-SOM which is the largest overseas base was set up in southern Mogadishu in 2017 to train units of Somali armed forces, mainly Gorgor and Haram’ad.

The drones deployed to Somalia are two parts, some are used for bombing and the other part is carrying out surveillance operations, according to the KON military source.

In recent years, Turkey has provided special forces with light guns and armored vehicles, but now it has added drones as Somalia remains under the UN arms embargo.

The Turkish-trained Somali troops were used by Farmajo during his tenure to silence his critics and the press freedom to score his goals, including a 2-year term extension.

When contacted for confirmation, Farmajo's government denied the KON report last year, while the Turkish embassy in Mogadishu also fired several employees after the leaked information.

KEYDMEDIA English