A photograph appeared on the Internet
Israel has established an intelligence base in Somaliland in northern Somalia, according to the US-based Drop Site News, citing Somali officials, Somaliland administration officials and security sources familiar with the region.
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The report moves away from the previous narrative that Israel only wants a military base in Berbera, and argues that Israeli intelligence activity has already begun inside Somaliland in northern Somalia.
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Drop Site News said that several current and former officials, including Somali officials, a former security official, a European security official and a Somaliland official, confirmed to it that Israel has an intelligence presence at Berbera airport.
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The Somaliland administration declined to provide Drop Site News with details on the report.
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A Somaliland official close to President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro told Drop Site News that Israel raised its security concerns in the Red Sea and the Houthi movement in talks with Hargeisa.
“That was very important,” another Somaliland official told the outlet.
Drop Site News also reported that a unit of Somaliland’s presidential guard had returned from training in Israel, and intelligence officers had also received training. A Somali official also told the outlet that another group of Somaliland’s naval forces had been sent to Kenya.
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Somali Times could not independently verify these claims.
The Somali government has strongly opposed Israel’s relations with Somaliland, saying that any military or intelligence activity by Israel in Somaliland is a violation of Somalia’s sovereignty.
Former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said in an interview with Dawan on June 12 that Israel had approached the Somali government several times to open diplomatic relations, but Mogadishu had refused.
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Speaking about relations between Somaliland and Israel, the president warned that “a big problem will arise,” adding that “signs are already visible.”
Ex president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has previously said that Somalia will not accept an Israeli base in Somaliland and will oppose such a move.
A senior Somali official told Drop Site News that Mogadishu is closely monitoring Israeli interference.
“We are closely monitoring Israeli interference, which does not serve Somaliland or regional security. It only advances their interests, while everyone else loses,” the official said.
Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland’s independence in December, a move that has sparked outrage in Somalia and many countries in the region.
For Somaliland, the Israeli relationship is an opportunity to gain recognition it has sought for more than 30 years. Israel sees Somaliland as a strategic location close to Yemen, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, at a time when the Houthis have made the Red Sea one of the most dangerous waterways in the world.
“Hargeisa was looking for anyone who could change the diplomatic equation,” Jethro Norman, a Horn of Africa expert at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Drop Site News.
“Somaliland is risking its credibility in the Muslim world to gain recognition that it has not yet received from any other UN member state,” he said.
Somaliland officials have given mixed messages about the possibility of Israel establishing a military base in Berbera.
Somaliland’s administration denied such a plan, but another Somaliland official later told Israel’s Channel 12 that the matter was being discussed.
Jama Abdullahi Egal Gabuush, a foreign affairs adviser to the Somaliland president, told Israel’s Channel 14 that security cooperation had already begun, describing it as “very important.”
“But it’s not something to be exaggerated. It exists, and it’s a cooperation based on mutual interest,” he said.
The growing ties between Somaliland and Israel have also raised concerns within Somaliland, where some critics say that the quest for recognition should not be seen as a way for Somaliland to stand with Israel during the ongoing war in Gaza.
Sheikh Mustafa Haji Ismail, one of Somaliland’s most prominent scholars, has previously said that Somaliland has the right to seek recognition, but that this quest should not be seen as a way to support Israel.
“Running away from oppression,” he said, “should not lead you to support the greatest oppressor who is killing Muslims today.”