AI: The deaths of civilians in military attacks with Turkish drones in Somalia could amount to war crimes

Two attacks that killed 23 civilians during Somali military operations supported by Turkish drones should be investigated as war crimes, Amnesty International said today.

Among the civilians killed in the strikes on March 18, 2024, were fourteen children, five women and four men. Another 17 civilians were injured in the attacks: 11 children, two women and four men. They all belong to the marginalized Gorgaarte clan.

The attacks hit Jaffey’s farm, about two miles west of the village of Baghdad in the Lower Shabelle region, between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Victims and other residents told Amnesty International that the drone strikes followed heavy ground fighting that began earlier that day between the armed group Al-Shabaab and Somali security forces near the villages of Jambaluul and Baghdad.

“The Somali and Turkish governments must investigate these deadly attacks as a war crime and put an end to the reckless attacks on civilians,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa.

“In Somalia, civilians have far too often borne the brunt of war conditions. These gruesome deaths should not be overlooked. The devastated survivors and their families deserve truth, justice and reparations.”

Amnesty International interviewed twelve people remotely, including four victims and eyewitnesses, and four relatives of victims. Investigators also reviewed satellite images and medical reports, analyzed photos of victims and weapon fragments, and geolocated videos from the scene of the attacks and of Turkish drone operations at Mogadishu international airport.

Based on the photos of the ammunition scrap, Amnesty International’s weapons researcher was able to confirm that the attack was carried out with MAM-L glide bombs, which are dropped from TB-2 drones. Both are manufactured by Turkey. Attacks that do not distinguish between military and civilian targets are indiscriminate and could amount to war crimes.

It is unclear whether Turkish or Somali forces were in control of the TB-2 drone at the time of the Jaffey farm attacks. A source in the Somali government told Amnesty International that members of the National Intelligence and Security Agency operate the TB-2s during combat operations against Al-Shabaab. However, in 2022 the UN Panel of Experts for Somalia will reported that, according to the Turkish government, Turkey has not transferred the drones to Somalia in violation of the UN arms embargo, but is operating the drones itself “in the fight against terrorism”. Also in 2022, Ahmed Malim Fiqi, then Somalia’s Minister of Interior and now Minister of Foreign Affairs, would said that while Turkish forces operate the drones, Somali commanders supply the targets.

In recent years, Turkey has provided military equipment and support to Somalia. Satellite images and videos geolocated by Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab show Turkish TB-2 drones on the runway of Mogadishu International Airport as early as September 12, 2022. After years of training the ‘Gorgor’ unit of the Somali Armed Forces in the Turkish Turksom camp in Mogadishu, the two countries signed a framework agreement for defense and economic cooperation in February 2024.

On April 5, Amnesty International sent letters to the governments of Somalia and Turkey, asking for details of the March 18 operation, including which forces controlled the drone at the time of the attacks. At the time of publication, neither government had responded.

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