London (WDN) — Puntland authorities have accused Turkey of carrying out a series of unclaimed airstrikes along the Puntland coast following the hijacking of the M/V Lutuf by Somali pirates.

Abdirahman Yusuf Dujana, Puntland’s deputy security minister, told BBC Newsday and BBC Somali that Puntland believes Turkey was responsible for the recent strikes. He also alleged that Somalia’s federal government may have been involved.

However, he provided no independently verifiable evidence to substantiate the allegations, and no government, military or armed group has officially claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The strikes began after pirates seized the Cameroon-flagged M/V Lutuf on August 17 and moved the vessel and its crew toward Puntland’s Nugaal coastline.

According to a Somali official cited by the Associated Press, the vessel was carrying Turkish-supplied weapons, communications equipment and satellite technology reportedly destined for a Turkish military training facility in Mogadishu.

On August 18, four people were reportedly killed and two wounded in a strike near Garmaal after a small boat returned toward the coast from the direction of the hijacked vessel. While initial reports described those killed as suspected pirates, relatives and local residents said some were fishermen.

Another deadly strike was reported on August 23 near Jiifle in Godob-Jiraan district. The district mayor told BBC Somali that nine people were killed, while a local resident who visited the site said he saw eight badly burned bodies. The resident said some of the young men were known locally as fishermen, although he could not establish why they were at sea or whether any were connected to piracy.

The responsibility for both strikes remains officially unclaimed. The allegations against Turkey are particularly significant because Ankara previously told the BBC that it had no information about the attacks. Dujana has now directly contradicted that position, claiming Puntland possesses information concerning Turkish movements around the vessel and the surrounding coastline. The BBC said it could not independently verify the claim.

Questions have also been raised over the role of Somalia’s federal government. On August 22, State Minister for Defence Omar Ali Abdi told local media that the federal government was aware of military operations and airstrikes along Puntland’s coast and was preparing a comprehensive report.

He further stated that any military operation against piracy along Somalia’s coastline would legally require authorization from the federal government, although he did not identify who carried out the strikes or who ordered them.

The dispute leaves several critical questions unanswered: Who authorized the attacks? Who carried them out? What intelligence was used to identify the targets? And what measures were taken to protect civilians, particularly fishermen operating along the coast?

Puntland says it remains committed to fighting piracy but insists that suspected criminals must be dealt with through lawful procedures. Dujana also called for greater international maritime support, recalling previous cooperation between Puntland and international naval forces during the height of Somali piracy.

Puntland authorities say they have arrested foreign nationals allegedly involved in piracy networks and recovered GPS equipment and computers reportedly used to track commercial vessels hundreds of miles offshore. However, the deputy minister said Puntland currently has no direct evidence linking Al-Shabaab or Islamic State to the latest piracy-related activities.

The government has requested responses from the Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu and Turkish military officials, as well as Somalia’s federal ministries, regarding the identity of those conducting the strikes and whether the federal government authorized them.

For now, the central mystery remains unresolved: a series of deadly attacks has occurred along Puntland’s coast, civilians may have been among the victims, yet no actor has publicly accepted responsibility.

WardheerNews