Hargeisa (Somalia Today) — Israel deployed special forces to Somaliland during its war with Iran, according to a CNN report published on Friday, naming the self-declared republic in northern Somalia among several locations used in a wider covert regional network.
The report, citing four sources familiar with the matter, said Mossad agents and elite Israeli military units were also sent to Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.
CNN said Israel maintained covert sites and operational bases that supported intelligence-gathering missions, drone operations and other activities during the conflict with Iran.
The report said Israel established some of the facilities with the knowledge of host authorities, while others may have operated without their knowledge. It did not say whether Somaliland authorities knew about the alleged Israeli positions.
Somaliland’s government did not immediately respond to the CNN report.
Somaliland, Israel ties
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but remained without formal recognition from any UN member state until Israel recognised it in December.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, widely known as Irro, signed a declaration establishing full diplomatic relations.
Somalia condemned the decision as a violation of its sovereignty. The African Union and several countries reaffirmed support for Somalia’s territorial integrity after Israel’s move.
Somalia considers Somaliland part of its sovereign territory. Somaliland has governed itself for more than three decades, with its own institutions, currency and security forces, but has not gained broad international recognition.
Somaliland has previously denied claims that its recognition deal with Israel involved military bases or other security arrangements.
“The Government of the Republic of Somaliland firmly rejects false claims made by the President of Somalia alleging the resettlement of Palestinians or the establishment of military bases in Somaliland,” its foreign ministry said in January.
It said Hargeisa’s engagement with Israel was “purely diplomatic” and carried out “in full respect of international law”.
Strategic waterway
Somaliland lies near the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab, the narrow maritime route linking the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea.
The waterway connects shipping between Europe, the Middle East and Asia and has come under repeated attack by Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels since the start of the Gaza war.
Somaliland’s port city of Berbera has become one of its most important economic assets. Dubai-based DP World operates the port, and the United Arab Emirates has developed commercial ties with Somaliland in recent years.
Somaliland has also said it plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem. Israel has said it will open representation in Hargeisa as part of the diplomatic relationship announced in December.
Somalia has rejected those steps and said no foreign state can establish relations with Somaliland as a separate country.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called the move a “great misfortune” and a betrayal of Somalia’s long-held support for the Palestinian cause.
“It is in no way possible today that a part of our country goes to Israel,” Mohamud said.
“We did not invade Israel. We did not deny its statehood. And we said, be a state,” he added.
“But it is a great misfortune for us to say we will raise a flag bearing ‘There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’ and say Jerusalem belongs to Israel and is Israel’s capital.”
Wider covert network
CNN’s report said Israel carried out operations from southern Azerbaijan, near the Iranian border and roughly 100 kilometres from Tabriz at its closest point.
The personnel reportedly conducted drone operations and intelligence-gathering missions.
One operation launched from Azerbaijani territory killed Rahman Moghaddam, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ special intelligence operations division, on March 4, CNN reported, citing one source.
The following day, drones struck Nakhchivan International Airport and a nearby village in Azerbaijan. Baku blamed Iran for the attack, an allegation Tehran denied.
Azerbaijan’s embassy in Washington rejected CNN’s report, saying it dismissed “unfounded claims” that Azerbaijani territory had been used for operations against third countries.
Israel has close strategic ties with Azerbaijan, including in energy, defence and cybersecurity. It also has security and economic cooperation with the UAE, which normalised relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020.
CNN’s report followed earlier reports by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times that Israel had established secret facilities in Iraq during the conflict.
Axios and the Financial Times have also reported that Israel deployed troops, an Iron Dome battery and other air defence systems to the UAE during the war.
Israel has not publicly confirmed the deployments reported by CNN.
