US expands military footprint in Somalia with new Bosaso base

US military drones commenced reconnaissance flights over the Al-Miskad mountains in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region shortly after sunset on 3 September.

Speaking to news outlet Drop Site, Puntland security officials said surveillance targeted the Togga Miraale and Togga Baalade areas, identified by local authorities as strongholds of Islamic State militants.

Officials reported that the drones identified suspected Islamic State fighters travelling by donkey cart in the Togga Baalade area, prompting airstrikes at around 20:30.

Conducted concurrently with reconnaissance operations over the Al-Madow mountains in the Sanaag region, where Al-Shabaab maintains a presence, the operation concluded a period of relative calm in US strikes across Somalia.

US Africa Command (AFRICOM), which oversees US military operations in Somalia, did not respond to requests for comment. However, Puntland security officials noted that they expect US air operations in the country to intensify further in the foreseeable future.

At the centre of this military expansion lies a new US military base planned for the Gulf of Aden port city of Bosaso, which was announced last month.

While local officials maintain that US air support is indispensable in combatting the Islamic State, American operations across the region have drawn criticism over the deaths and displacement of thousands of civilians.

Situated on the Gulf of Aden, through which roughly 25% of global maritime traffic passes, Bosaso has a population of 1 million and serves as a critical human smuggling corridor for East African migrants moving towards Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula.

The area is emerging as the focal point of a US initiative to militarise one of the world’s most strategic maritime routes. On land, intense combat between US-backed Puntland regional forces and Islamic State militants has continued in the Al-Miskad mountains for nearly two years.

The US administration characterises the arid, mountainous terrain of northern Somalia as the central hub from which the Islamic State directs its global operations.

Security sources in Puntland stated that Washington is de facto expanding its military footprint by constructing a new base in Bosaso, which will be utilised directly for combat, reconnaissance, and maritime security operations.

Officials emphasised that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) would also expand its regional footprint.

Agreement signed behind closed doors

An AFRICOM delegation headed by special operations commander Major General Claude Tudor met Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni in Bosaso on 2 August.

Following the meeting, the presidency of the semi-autonomous region, which is nominally subordinate to the central government in Mogadishu, announced in an official communiqué that a new memorandum of understanding had been reached.

The statement noted that the US would expand its military base in Bosaso to enhance counter-terrorism operations and safeguard maritime security.

However, five separate Puntland security officials who spoke to Drop Site argued that the official announcement distorted the true nature of the agreement.

Noting that the US had never previously possessed a military base in Bosaso, officials stated that the existing presence consisted solely of an “office” operated as an intelligence centre by AFRICOM and the CIA. Under the new project, a military installation will be established in the region from scratch.

Under current arrangements, AFRICOM personnel stationed at the Bosaso office provide liaison between Puntland ground forces and the command’s primary headquarters in neighbouring Djibouti whenever air support is required.

Officials noted that once the new base being built on the grounds of Bosaso Airport is completed, the US will conduct airstrikes and combat sorties directly from the city.

Security sources said most Somali delegation members photographed at the 2 August signing ceremony were unaware of the agreement’s details, explaining that the outline of the accord had been finalised during a secret meeting between Deni and the AFRICOM delegation in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on 27 July.

“The Americans walked into the room, pulled out the draft, and the text was signed by Deni. Everything had already been cooked up in Addis Ababa,” one official said.

The CIA as “Big Brother” and covert transfers

US airstrikes in Somalia reached record levels under Donald Trump. Having ordered an operation against a senior Islamic State target in Somalia shortly after taking office, the Trump administration conducted 205 airstrikes in the country, according to data compiled by think tank New America. Direct hits on Islamic State targets accounted for 53% of those operations.

The Islamic State network in Somalia was formed in 2015 when British-Somali cleric Abdiqadir Mumin and affiliated militants broke away from Al-Shabaab to pledge allegiance to the group.

After holding the Gulf of Aden coastal town of Qandala for 38 days in 2016, the group retreated into the Al-Miskad mountains. Over time, it evolved into an organisation in which foreign fighters, primarily from Ethiopia and other regional states, formed the majority.

Puntland security officials stated that CIA personnel in Bosaso interrogate captured high-ranking foreign Islamic State operatives and exert unquestioned authority over decisions, acting like a “big brother”.

Officials said Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf (Abdiweli Walalac), the financial chief of the group’s Somali wing who was placed under sanctions by the US Department of the Treasury in 2019, was interrogated at this office following his capture and covertly transferred to Djibouti the next day.

Concealing himself among local Bedouins in the rural Xumbeys area of the Bari region, Abdiweli was captured on 25 July last year in a helicopter raid conducted by the Puntland Intelligence and Security Agency (PISA) alongside US elements.

Officials stressed that the operation, previously presented to the public as “US-backed”, was directly controlled on the ground by American forces, with air cover also provided personally by the US.

New local strike force under formation

It has emerged that the Bosaso agreement is not limited to air operations, but also provides for the US to establish a new local strike force to conduct counter-terrorism missions in the region.

Although troop numbers have not yet been finalised, the force’s salaries, equipment, and military training will be entirely funded by the US.

Washington has pursued similar military structures in Somalia in the past. Established after 11 September, the Puntland Security Force (PSF), which saw US support cut in 2020, faced accusations of involvement in civilian casualties and clashes within populated settlements. Under Barack Obama, “Danab” (Lightning), an elite unit established to fight Al-Shabaab across southern and central Somalia, was equipped directly by the US.

During an 18-month offensive across the Al-Miskad mountains in Bari province, the group was reportedly pushed back significantly, with at least two-thirds of slain militants killed directly in US airstrikes.

Nevertheless, local sources reported that Islamic State pockets persist in the rugged mountain terrain, which they compared to Afghanistan’s “Tora Bora”, while displaced civilians remain unable to return to their villages because of bombings and looting.

Base construction in Bosaso also raises grave constitutional disputes under Somali law. Under the Somali constitution, the authority to conclude military agreements with foreign states rests exclusively with the federal central government in Mogadishu.

The Somali Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Information did not respond to questions regarding whether they were briefed in advance on the military accord signed between the Puntland administration and the US.