Turkiye’s Bayraktar TB2 drones are taking part in offensive operations against Al-Shabaab in central Somalia, the Minister of Interior Ahmed Moalim Fiqi said.

“The United States and Turkiye are providing air support to prevent Al-Shabaab attacks on Somali security forces as they continue operations to retake rural areas in the central regions of Galgadud and Hiran,” Fiqi said in an interview with Universal Somali TV.

The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations.

It is manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., primarily for the Turkish Armed Forces.

The aircraft are monitored and controlled by an aircrew in a ground control station, including weapons employment.

The development of the UAV has been largely credited to Selçuk Bayraktar, a former MIT graduate student.

Bayraktar drones were deployed by a number of other nations around the world in various wars, such as by Azerbaijan in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as by the Ethiopian National Defense Force during the Tigray War. (ILKHA)