Somalia: Fahad Yasin links Jama to Gen. Shub drone strike

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s former intelligence chief Fahad Yasin has accused the Speaker of the House of the People, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur – widely known by the nicknames “Jama” and “Minister TikTok” – of directing the drone strike that hit the Doolow residence of former Custodial Corps commander Gen. Mahad Abdirahman Aden late Thursday.

Gen. Mahad, popularly known as “General Shub,” survived the overnight attack in the Gedo region town near the Ethiopian border. Jubaland’s Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism said five people in total were hurt: Gen. Mahad, who sustained minor injuries, and four civilians, including his wife.

The allegation

In a Facebook statement, Yasin warned that the strike would carry “dangerous repercussions capable of spreading beyond Somalia to neighboring countries,” a remark he made in the context of accusing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration of crossing a dangerous line. Yasin said Nur first demonstrated what he described as command responsibility for lethal operations in December 2017, when he served as acting head of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) and, according to Yasin, led the raid on the Mogadishu home of opposition politician Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame. Yasin alleged that Nur – who is now serving as acting president while President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is on an overseas trip – has again used that authority, this time to direct the strike on Gen. Mahad.

Competing accounts of the attack

Jubaland’s Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism said Turkish military aircraft carried out the overnight operation, adding that two missiles were fired – one of which struck the home of Doolow’s district chairman. Other Jubaland officials and prominent political figures, including former presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and the opposition Somali Future Council, have echoed the drone-strike account and demanded an independent investigation.

The Federal Government has denied involvement and disputed that a drone strike took place at all. Its preliminary investigation, officials said, indicates the blast at Gen. Mahad’s residence originated from explosives being handled inside the house rather than from an external strike.

Turkey, which operates a military base in Mogadishu and trains and equips federal government forces, has not responded to the allegations that its aircraft were involved.

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