Four civilians killed in northeastern Somalia airstrike as civilian toll rises from protracted air war

GAROWE (Somaliguardian) – An airstrike by a foreign military partner killed a pregnant woman and her three daughters last Thursday near Somalia’s northeastern town of Qandala, according to a Somali diplomat, amid a sharp rise in civilian casualties from intensifying drone operations in the country.

The incident in the semi-autonomous Puntland region has triggered legal threats from the diplomat and highlights the growing human toll of a counter-insurgency campaign supported by the United States, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Turkey, which journalists say has killed more than 100 civilians this year.

Puntland authorities do not possess independent air assets or drones, focusing scrutiny on international partners operating in the mountainous Bari region where militants maintain hideouts.

Somalia’s deputy ambassador to Tanzania, Ashkir Nur, condemned the strike, stating it hit pastoralist families inside an area designated by the government as a safe zone.

“This heinous incident occurred in the ‘Bahaya’ highlands of the Bari region, an area inhabited by pastoralist families. It was close to a deployment point for the ‘Darwish’ forces, and the bombarded area was among those designated by the government as ‘safe zones, far from shelling and targeting,'” Nur said.

The sole survivor of the immediate family, Mohamed Eid Ismail, is receiving medical treatment in Bosaso for severe injuries and psychological trauma, according to Nur.

“Mohamed Eid Ismail – the father of the three girls – survived this massacre. He is currently receiving treatment at hospitals in the city of Bosaso and is in a deplorable psychological state following the martyrdom of his pregnant wife and three daughters, as well as the severe damage inflicted upon his livestock and his modest worldly possessions,” Nur added.

The diplomat stated that legal action would be pursued if regional authorities failed to establish accountability.

“The Puntland authorities must clarify the matter, take the initiative to heal the wounds, comfort the stricken family, and admit the mistake. Unless all of the aforementioned steps are taken, we will resort to the judiciary—demanding the arrest and prosecution of those responsible, both locally and internationally, along with the entity that owns the air force that bombed the afflicted family,” he said.

Widespread Collateral Damage

The tragedy in Puntland follows a broader pattern of civilian casualties linked to counter-terrorism operations across southern and central Somalia, primarily driven by an increase in drone warfare.

Last week, seven members of a single family were killed in the Kam Jaron area near Kismayo during a ground operation by the U.S.-trained Danab elite brigade, supported by unmanned aerial vehicles. Clan elders told local media that the victims included 95-year-old Habibo Osman Mohamud and three children aged between 12 and 17. The elders alleged that troops moved the bodies to Kismayo following the raid.

Separately, an airstrike two days ago in the central town of Buq Aqable in the Hiran region killed Abdi Ahmed, a mosque muezzin who calls Muslims to prayer, and his 15-year-old daughter, Hafsa Abdi, while wounding two others.

Attribution Challenges

Determining responsibility for specific airstrikes in Somalia has become increasingly difficult as foreign partners rarely claim individual operations. Rights groups warn that a lack of transparency and a failure to investigate potential war crimes complicate the overall security environment.

Analysts note that civilian casualties risk further complicating the conflict by driving aggrieved populations to actively align with the insurgents, providing militant groups with a potent recruitment base to fuel their campaign while validating their propaganda narratives among local communities.

The federal government in Mogadishu rarely issues public statements regarding civilian casualties from air operations and has previously restricted media coverage of such incidents.

As the conflict approaches its twentieth year, rural communities, women, and children continue to experience the primary impact of the fighting, with vast agricultural areas and livestock populations heavily degraded by the ongoing air war.

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