The security sources say six worldwide warships are now in the seas close to the Lutuf – two from Turkey and one each from Spain, Denmark, the US and India, something the BBC has not been in a position to independently confirm.
“There is military equipment on the [hijacked] ship meant for Turkey’s operations in Somalia,” the Somali authorities official said, talking on situation of anonymity, including that the cargo included satellite tv for pc gear for a space station that Ankara is building north of the capital.
He alleged that Turkey had carried out the second drone strike that killed 9 armed males on Sunday.
“The men who were killed were criminals and I don’t have sympathy for them,” he said, “but taking it to that level is escalating the situation even more.”
Turkey’s defence ministry has acknowledged that its forces are offering “necessary support” to Somali authorities regarding the incident involving a hijacked vessel in Somali territorial waters, within the framework of their security settlement. But it stopped short of addressing the accusations that Turkey had carried out lethal drone strikes.
Publicly the authorities in Mogadishu has said only that it is conscious of the operations against pirate teams and will take measures to deal with them.
Puntland authorities have been more outspoken.
Speaking to the BBC’s Somali Service, Deputy Minister of Security Abdirahman Yusuf said his administration had evidence that Turkey was accountable for the attacks, citing info about Turkish exercise around the vessel and along the Puntland coast.
The BBC has not independently verified his allegations.
The security ministry also issued a assertion expressing opposition to “bombings by international warships targeting civilians” that “undermined co-operation… in combatting piracy”, and demanded an quick clarification for why they were carried out.
Puntland is cautious of Turkey’s close navy relationship with the Somali authorities, and the incidents risk further complicating a long-standing political dispute between the semi-autonomous area and Mogadishu that hinders a co-ordinated effort to battle piracy, analysts say.
There is not yet a full-blown resurgence. But without an finish to the US-Iran warfare, or elevated worldwide efforts at deterrence, Somali piracy stands to proceed raising the menace degree in a essential maritime space that is already dangerously squeezed.
Additional reporting by Mohamed Gabobe in Mogadishu and the BBC Somali Service
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