Hargeisa (Somalia Today) — Israel sent a small contingent of troops to Somaliland after recognising the breakaway Somali region as an independent state, Middle East Eye reported, citing a senior Somali government official.
The official said around 50 Israeli soldiers arrived in Somaliland soon after Israel recognised the territory in December and after the war with Iran resumed in late February.
“According to our intelligence reports, the Israeli military selected Israeli soldiers of African heritage, especially Ethiopians, so as not to draw attention to themselves and to blend in more easily with the local community,” the official said.
The Israeli military declined to comment directly on the allegation. “After checking with the relevant authorities, it is a matter for the political echelon,” it told MEE.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry later dismissed the report in a one-line statement posted through several official accounts: “FAKE NEWS.”
The denial followed wider circulation of the report in Israeli media.
Somaliland authorities did not respond to requests for comment.
Secret ties
The report comes days after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz publicly acknowledged that Israel and Somaliland had maintained secret security ties for years, appearing to confirm a relationship long suspected by officials and analysts in the region.
“For many years, we cooperated under the radar in a series of operations that will remain classified,” Katz said during talks with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi in Israel.
“Now we are going to bring our security cooperation to new heights, for the benefit of both peoples and for the benefit of stability in the region,” he added.
Somaliland’s Defence Minister Mohamed Yusuf Ali has denied that Israel has a base in the territory, but acknowledged direct Israeli security assistance.
“There is no Israeli military presence or military bases in Somaliland,” he told Reuters last week.
“But Israel is helping Somaliland… they are supporting us by training some of our police and military,” he added.
The competing accounts have placed Somaliland’s growing strategic role under closer scrutiny since Israel became the first country to formally recognise it as an independent state on December 26.
The move drew strong condemnation from Somalia, the African Union and many Muslim-majority states.
Israel later appointed Michael Lotem as its first ambassador to Hargeisa, while Somaliland opened an embassy in Jerusalem during Abdullahi’s visit, marking one of the most visible signs of the new relationship.
At a business forum in Tel Aviv, Abdullahi framed the relationship as both economic and strategic.
“Somaliland is open for business, and Somaliland is ready for Israeli investment,” he said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the partnership would continue despite opposition.
“Unfortunately, there are many trying to undermine bilateral ties. They will not be successful,” he said.
Berbera naval access
The military dimension has centred increasingly on Berbera, Somaliland’s main port on the Gulf of Aden and one of the territory’s most valuable strategic assets.
A German defence outlet reported last week that Israel was seeking naval and military access at Berbera, potentially giving its navy a forward position opposite Yemen.
Defence Network said the new relationship between Israel and Somaliland could allow Israeli forces to use Berbera for operations involving Israel’s German-built Dolphin-class submarines.
The outlet, citing foreign sources, said Israel was actively seeking to establish a naval and military presence at the port, but added that there was no official confirmation that Dolphin-class submarines would regularly operate from the facility.
Israeli officials have not publicly confirmed the report.
Berbera lies near the Bab al-Mandab strait, one of the world’s most sensitive maritime chokepoints, linking the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
For Israel, access to Berbera could offer a strategic foothold near Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, who have launched missiles and drones at Israel and attacked vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since the start of the Gaza war.
CNN also reported earlier this month, citing sources, that Somaliland had provided Israel with an additional military site that could allow Israeli aircraft to stop there during long-range flights linked to the Iran conflict.
The reports suggest Somaliland’s location may have become increasingly important to Israel as the conflict with Iran and its allies has spread across the Gulf, Yemen and the Red Sea shipping lanes.
Somalia anger
Somalia has denounced Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as a direct assault on its sovereignty.
Mogadishu says Somaliland remains part of Somalia, despite the region’s 1991 declaration of independence following the collapse of the Somali state.
A joint statement by Somalia and more than 20 countries and organisations condemned Israel’s recognition as a “grave violation” of international law and warned that it could carry serious consequences for peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.
The African Union’s Peace and Security Council also condemned the recognition and called for its “immediate revocation”, saying it threatened Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and stability.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate, has governed itself for more than three decades and has maintained relative stability compared with southern Somalia, where the federal government continues to battle Al-Shabaab and struggles to consolidate authority.
But the territory has never won broad international recognition.
The military activity reported around Somaliland suggests the Horn of Africa may remain entangled in the wider Middle East confrontation, with Berbera emerging as a potential flashpoint in the contest stretching from Iran and Yemen to the Red Sea.
