Somalia has warned of a resurgence in piracy along its coastline, calling for stronger international cooperation to counter a series of attacks and vessel hijackings in the waters off Puntland and the Gulf of Aden.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement on Sunday that the government strongly condemned the renewed piracy threat.
The ministry said attacks targeting commercial vessels have been reported since April, with pirate groups expanding their operations into parts of the Gulf of Aden.
Somali security forces are conducting operations against piracy networks both at sea and on land, with authorities vowing to continue efforts to dismantle the groups.
Among the latest operations was the rescue of the cargo vessel MV Lutuf, which was freed on August 29 after being hijacked near the Puntland coast on August 17.
Türkiye’s Ministry of National Defence said it supported Somali authorities during the operation to free the vessel, describing the assistance as part of security and defence cooperation between the two countries.
The Lutuf was released in disputed circumstances, but its capture triggered unexpected consequences.
A few days after the attack on Lutuf, pirates boarded an oil products tanker, the Eritrean-flagged MT Sibu 1, in waters near Yemen, on the other side of the Gulf of Aden.
Thirteen men allegedly belonging to a network that supplies the pirates on the ship were killed in two drone strikes in the week following the hijacking.
No one has said they were behind the attacks, but local officials blamed them on Turkey, saying the vessel was carrying Turkish weapons.
Somalia said international maritime-security cooperation involving the country should be conducted under federal government leadership and in coordination with federal member states.
It called on international partners to work through a unified national framework to strengthen Somali forces responsible for protecting the coastline and maintaining maritime security.
Somalia, which currently holds a seat on the United Nations Security Council, said it would raise the resurgence of piracy at the council and work with regional and international partners to address the threat.
The government said those efforts would include cooperation under the Djibouti Code of Conduct and its Jeddah Amendment to secure the release of seafarers still being held and dismantle piracy networks.
“The Government of Somalia will not allow the country’s waters to become a safe haven for those who commit maritime crimes,” the Foreign Ministry said.