DOLOW, Somalia — A former commander of Somalia’s prison service was wounded and a girl was killed when an air strike hit a house he was staying in in the southwestern town of Dolow, according to preliminary reports.
Witnesses and local sources said an aircraft struck the residence with a single missile. The former commander, identified as General Mahad Abdirahman Cabdi, known as General Shub, was reportedly wounded in the attack.
A girl who was inside the house was killed, the sources said, while details on further casualties and the extent of the damage were still emerging.
The strike comes amid growing tensions between Somalia’s federal government and forces aligned with former South West state president Abdiaziz Laftagareen.
General Shub was removed from his position following a political dispute between the federal government and the South West administration. He was later placed under house arrest in Mogadishu before leaving the country, according to local reports.
He has since been reported to have joined forces supporting Laftagareen and to be involved in efforts to organise and reinforce troops opposed to the federal government.
The Laftagareen-aligned South West administration has accused Turkey of carrying out the strike, saying Turkish drones targeted General Shub’s residence.
The administration said the attack was not an operation against Al-Shabaab but a deliberate strike against a military officer opposed to the federal government’s policies.
South West’s Ministry of Information called on Turkey to disclose who selected the target, who requested the operation and which Somali and Turkish officials authorised or ordered the strike.
It also called for an independent international investigation to establish who was responsible for the attack, why the residence was targeted and who should be held accountable for the casualties.
The administration said Turkey’s military capabilities and security cooperation with Somalia should not be used in the country’s internal political disputes, urging Ankara to refrain from attacks targeting politicians and military officers opposed to the federal government.
The allegations of Turkish involvement in the strike could not be independently verified. There was no immediate comment from Turkish authorities or Somalia’s federal government.
