Somalia has warned that its territory cannot be used for foreign military operations following reports that Israel may seek to establish a base in the breakaway region of Somaliland ..reports Asian Lite News
Somalia has warned that its territory cannot be used as a launching pad for military operations following media reports that Israel is planning to establish a military base in the breakaway region of Somaliland, across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen.
The warning from Mogadishu follows reports by the US outlet Bloomberg and Sweden’s public radio Ekot that Israel is considering a military installation near the strategic port city of Berbera on the Gulf of Aden.
“Somalia does not want to see its territory pulled into external confrontations or used in ways that could further destabilise an already sensitive region,” Ali Omar, Somalia’s state minister for foreign affairs said.
Omar stressed that the federal authorities in Mogadishu remain the only body authorised to enter into international military or security agreements on behalf of the country. “The Federal Government is the only authority empowered to enter into international security or military arrangements on behalf of the country,” he said.
“Any discussions about foreign military facilities on Somali territory that take place outside that framework simply have no legal standing,” he said. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has governed itself independently for more than three decades. Until recently it had not secured recognition from any United Nations member state. Israel recognised Somaliland as an independent state on December 26, becoming the first country to do so.
Somalia, however, continues to regard Somaliland as part of its sovereign territory. Officials in Somaliland have not disclosed details of what was agreed when the territory and Israel established full diplomatic relations in December.
On January 1, Somaliland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied allegations from the Somali government that military arrangements with Israel were under discussion, saying the engagement with Israel was “purely diplomatic”. Shortly afterwards, a ministry official told Israel’s Channel 12 that a base was “on the table and being discussed”.
In comments to Bloomberg, Somaliland’s presidency minister Khadar Abdi said Somaliland would pursue a “strategic relationship” with Israel that “encompasses a lot of things”. He added that the possibility of an Israeli base had not yet been discussed yet, but that it “will be analysed at some point”.
In February, Khadar Hussein Abdi, Somaliland’s minister of the presidency, said he “could not rule out” allowing Israel to establish a military presence. The reports and diplomatic developments come as the US-Israeli war on Iran approaches its second week. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 per cent of global oil and gas supplies transit, has effectively been closed amid Iranian threats to target shipping.
Elsewhere in the region, Israel has intensified attacks on Lebanon, killing at least 687 people and wounding more than 1,500, according to Lebanese authorities. The attacks began after the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets in retaliation for the US-Israeli killing of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Yemen’s Houthis have not yet entered the conflict directly but have warned they are prepared to do so. The group, which controls northern, western and central Yemen, has previously warned against an Israeli presence in Somaliland, describing it as a “hostile stance” and a “legitimate target”.
The possibility of a military presence in Somaliland has also drawn attention to key shipping routes in the region, particularly the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Roughly 12 per cent of global trade passes through the narrow waterway. The Houthis have previously enforced a blockade on Israel-linked vessels in the area during Israel’s war in Gaza.
Amid rising regional tensions, the United States embassy in Djibouti this week repeated a warning advising US citizens to avoid the vicinity of Camp Lemonnier, the US military’s largest base in Africa.
Omar said instability in the Red Sea region would have broader consequences for the Horn of Africa. “The Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are critical corridors for global trade and regional security, and instability there affects the entire Horn of Africa,” Omar said.
“When regional tensions rise, civilian populations are always the most vulnerable,” Omar told Al Jazeera, adding that, “steps that could expose Somali communities to unnecessary risks or draw them into wider geopolitical conflicts are not in the interest of our people”.
