File Photo/Somali Times
Israel deployed special forces to Somaliland is Northern Somalia State during its war with Iran, according to a report published Friday by CNN, which included Somaliland among several locations in a secret network Israel has established in the region.
The report, which CNN said cited four sources familiar with the matter, said that Mossad agents and senior Israeli military units were also deployed to Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.
CNN said Israel had secret bases and operations bases that supported intelligence gathering, drone operations and other activities during the Iran war.
The report said some of the sites were set up with the approval of host country officials, while others may have been operated without their knowledge. The report did not say whether Somaliland administration were aware of the alleged Israeli sites there.
Somaliland administration did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Somaliland has previously denied allegations that the Israeli recognition agreement included approval for military bases or the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza.
Somaliland administration strongly denies the false claims made by the former President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh regarding the settlement of Palestinians and the construction of military bases by Israel in Somaliland,” the Somaliland administration said in a statement in January.
The administration said that relations between Hargeisa and Israel are “diplomatic only” and conducted “with full respect and in accordance with international law.”
Somaliland is Northern Somalia State located near the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a sea route connecting the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
The route is vital for trade between Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Since the start of the Gaza war, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group has carried out a series of attacks in the Red Sea and surrounding areas.
Regional network
CNN reported that Israel had carried out operations in southern Azerbaijan, near the Iranian border, about 100 kilometers from the city of Tabriz at the closest point.
The members deployed there were said to have carried out drone and intelligence operations.
One operation launched from inside Azerbaijan killed Rahman Moghaddam, the head of the special intelligence operations department of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, CNN reported, citing a source.
The following day, drones struck Nakhchivan International Airport and a nearby village. Baku blamed Iran for the attack, but Tehran denied it.
The Azerbaijani embassy in Washington rejected the CNN report, saying it rejected “baseless allegations” that Azerbaijani territory was used for operations against a third country.
Israel has strategic ties with Azerbaijan, particularly in the areas of energy, defense and cybersecurity. It also has security and economic ties with the United Arab Emirates, which established formal diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020, following the Abraham Accords.
The CNN report comes after previous reports by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times that Israel had set up secret bases in Iraq during the Iran war.
Axios and the Financial Times have also previously reported that Israel has deployed troops, Iron Dome air defense systems and other defense equipment to the United Arab Emirates.
Israel has not officially confirmed that it has deployed such troops and bases to the locations mentioned in the CNN report.