A Turkish-made drone armed with missiles reportedly crashed on Tuesday in the Al-Shabaab-controlled village of Farsooley, located in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region, local sources have confirmed.
The drone went down approximately 130 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu, near the town of Qoryooley.
Residents in the area reported that Al-Shabaab fighters swiftly secured the crash site, concealing the wreckage with tree branches to evade detection by reconnaissance aircraft.
Although no group has officially claimed responsibility for the downing of the drone, early reports suggest it may have been involved in targeting Al-Shabaab positions.
The incident has not yet been commented on by either the Somali government or Turkish authorities, leaving unclear whether the drone was part of an ongoing military operation against Al-Shabaab.
The militant group, which has controlled significant portions of southern Somalia for years, has been a target of both Somali government forces and international partners in efforts to curb its influence and destabilizing activities.
Al-Shabaab, an extremist group aligned with Al-Qaeda, has been waging an insurgency in Somalia for over a decade.
The group controls large swathes of rural areas in southern Somalia and remains a persistent threat to the country’s security and stability. The Somali government, alongside international partners like Turkey, the United States, and the African Union, has been engaged in military operations to dislodge the group from its strongholds.
The use of drones in military operations against Al-Shabaab has increased in recent years, with several countries, including the United States and Turkey, deploying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance and targeted strikes. However, drone crashes, particularly in conflict zones, are not uncommon and often raise questions about the effectiveness and risks associated with their use in such volatile environments.
As of now, further updates on the investigation into the drone’s downing are awaited.
