Fighting Somali piracy needs local leadership, foreign naval backing

Piracy off Somalia’s coast has resurfaced, with nine hijackings so far this year attributed to local raiders. In the latest incident on 29 October, the Iranian fishing vessel Azini was attacked off the coast of Puntland. India’s navy rescued the crew and vessel, preventing the pirates from using it to board other commercial ships.

The increase in incidents has renewed concerns over maritime security and created more problems for global shipping, adding to the war in Iran and rising consumer prices.

Geography plays a key role in creating conditions conducive to recurring piracy off Somalia’s coast. Puntland, the current epicentre, has been central to waves of piracy since the early 2000s. Much of Somalia’s coastline – the longest in mainland Africa – lies in Puntland.

Puntland and Galmudug States, Somalia

Puntland State’s security and governance presence is concentrated along the inland Bosaso-Galkayo corridor, where the main urban centres are located. This leaves much of the rugged, isolated coastline beyond state control, allowing pirates to operate from remote fishing hamlets.

Nonetheless, government security forces – including the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-supported Puntland Maritime Police Force, established in 2013, have remained the first line of defence against piracy. They have pursued bandits in urban areas, disrupted supply lines and dismantled shore-based hideouts.

Both joint and independent foreign naval forces are also present. The European Union Naval Force Operation Atalanta and deployments from China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Russia are mandated to protect their vessels off Somalia.

These layers of deterrence previously helped contain piracy, but are no longer effective due to both internal and external factors.

Puntland’s capacity to counter piracy has been increasingly constrained by overlapping security and political factors. Since December 2024, its security forces – aided by external actors like the United States (US) – have degraded and dislodged Islamic State from large stretches of mountainous territory, while simultaneously confronting al-Shabaab. Fighting these terror groups has stretched the state’s security capacity.

At the same time, the Puntland Security Force (PSF), a US-trained counter-terrorism special force, fell out with the state government over its operational autonomy and command structure. In 2024, the PSF pledged allegiance to Somalia’s federal government, placing it at the centre of the Puntland-Mogadishu rift. After armed confrontations between Puntland’s other security forces and the PSF, the PSF was defeated.

Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni – expected to run for national president in May 2027 alongside current President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud – viewed the PSF as a threat to his position. Indeed, the federal government has recently used force to oust state-level leaders who oppose its political agenda, including in Jubaland and South West states. The PSF rebellion distracted Puntland’s leadership from rising piracy, allowing the threat to escalate unchecked.

Externally, the Iran war and Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea have created opportunities for pirates. Redeployment of foreign naval forces to that conflict has left Somalia’s coast less patrolled, while rerouted shipping has brought more commercial vessels closer to the coast. Many of these ships also lack armed security guards.

Piracy responses must address these gaps and coordinate across international, federal and state actors. Responses so far have been siloed, with external actors increasingly resorting to force.

On 29 August, the federal government announced that Türkiye’s navy freed the MV Lutuf cargo ship, leading to 14 pirates’ deaths and four small boats being destroyed. Puntland rejected this, alleging Mogadishu and Türkiye paid a US$2.5 million ransom.

Nevertheless, Türkiye’s intervention mirrored that of the US under President Donald Trump, signalling a shift towards a more kinetic approach by foreign navies. In early 2026, Mr Trump drew a parallel between Somali pirates and Latin American networks smuggling drugs into the US. He said the same missiles used against drug traffickers were being used by the US against Somali pirates.

However, Somalia’s coastline is too vast for the small number of foreign naval vessels to patrol effectively. The Iran war has also limited the appetite for a major international anti-piracy operation. Meanwhile, pirates’ growing access to drones, satellite internet and GPS enhances their ability to monitor maritime activity and identify potential targets.

The selective application of military responses by foreign countries is also problematic. In the MV Lutuf case, Türkiye intervened because the vessel was carrying military hardware, communication systems and satellite equipment for Turkish military training in Mogadishu.

Although foreign navies’ kinetic operations produce short-term gains, they can be counterproductive. For years, many Somalis have viewed foreign naval forces in Somali waters as complicit in illegal fishing and waste dumping – a view local leaders share.

By targeting young men who are often lured into piracy after losing their jobs to foreign illegal fishing, foreign navies risk reinforcing perceptions of impunity and indifference to Somali lives. This harms anti-piracy efforts, which require strong public support to succeed. It could also deepen the grievances that helped piracy take root, ultimately generating greater public sympathy for pirates.

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The lack of anti-piracy coordination between Somalia’s federal and state authorities is also a challenge, as evidenced by the aftermath of the operation to free MV Lutuf. Another example is that after defeating the PSF, Puntland launched its own anti-piracy military operation. Although three captive vessels were freed and dozens of pirates captured, five crew members died, and four were wounded.

And the piracy threat has been extended to a second federal state after pirates moved the captured vessel Asana from Puntland’s coast to Galmudug.

Influential countries such as the US, Türkiye, and the UAE should strengthen Somalia’s maritime security capacity and help mend ties between federal authorities and Puntland. Both Puntland and Galmudug should lead kinetic anti-piracy operations and ensure a permanent police presence along their coastlines to deny pirates a foothold.

Willis Okumu is a Senior Researcher on East Africa peace and security governance, and Said Abdullahi is a Research Intern on conflict prevention, management, resolution and peacebuilding in the Great Lakes Region, at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Nairobi.

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).