UAE exits Somalia bases, ports after Mogadishu cancels pacts

Mogadishu (Somalia Today) — The United Arab Emirates has begun drawing down personnel and equipment across Somali ports and military sites after Mogadishu annulled a web of port, defence and security agreements, a rupture that analysts say could reshape Gulf influence in the Horn of Africa and ripple into the wars of Sudan and Yemen.

Somalia’s government announced on January 12 that it was cancelling all agreements with the UAE — including port arrangements and defence cooperation — accusing Abu Dhabi of actions that “undermine” Somalia’s sovereignty and unity.

The decision targets deals tied to strategic maritime nodes that sit astride the Gulf of Aden and the approaches to the Red Sea — routes that have grown even more sensitive amid Houthi-linked attacks and intensifying regional rivalry.

Africa Confidential reported that the fallout has prompted Dubai to pull workers and equipment from ports and facilities in Somaliland, Puntland and elsewhere. This includes the completed evacuation of its military facility in Berbera and the end of its military footprint in Kismayo. And in Bosaso, UAE military aircraft resumed operations at Bosaso airport today after an eight-day pause.

Publicly, the UAE and affiliated entities have released limited details. Dubai-owned port operator DP World said its operations at Berbera were “unaffected” by the Somalia-UAE dispute, signalling that its commercial presence may remain insulated even as political ties unravel.

DP World’s Berbera project — anchored by a long-term concession and an investment plan widely reported at around US$442 million — has been one of the UAE’s flagship logistics bets in the Horn, promoted as a gateway for landlocked Ethiopia and Somaliland.

Regional defiance

The rupture is also testing Somalia’s internal cohesion. Somaliland — which has operated as a de facto independent entity since 1991 but lacked broad international recognition until Israel’s move in late 2025 — said Mogadishu’s cancellation was irrelevant to its own agreements.

Puntland and Jubbaland similarly signalled they intended to continue their partnerships with Emirati entities.

The standoff exposes a recurring dilemma for Somalia’s central government: it can set national policy, but its leverage over self-governing regions is uneven, and external powers have repeatedly worked directly with regional authorities to secure access.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has framed the dispute through the lens of sovereignty.

“We had a good relationship with the UAE, but unfortunately, they didn’t engage us as an independent and sovereign nation,” he told journalists last week.

Tensions reached a breaking point weeks after Israel became the first UN member state to formally recognise Somaliland as a sovereign state on December 26, 2025 — a diplomatic earthquake that Mogadishu denounced as an attack on its territorial integrity.

Somali officials suspect Emirati backchannels helped create the conditions for Israel’s recognition, though Abu Dhabi has not confirmed any role.

Diplomatic pivot

Hassan Sheikh has moved quickly to assemble diplomatic backing, portraying Somalia’s territorial integrity as a test case for regional order.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been among the most outspoken supporters of Somalia’s sovereignty, while China and the European Union have also reiterated support for Somalia’s unity.

Turkey, in particular, has entrenched itself as a mediator. After Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a memorandum of understanding in 2024 to give the landlocked country sea access, Ankara brokered a declaration in December 2024 where Somalia and Ethiopia agreed to pursue sea access talks “under Somali sovereignty.”

However, Mogadishu’s gamble carries clear security costs. The UAE has been a significant security actor in Somalia for more than a decade, notably funding the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) around Bosaso.

Analysts say the PMPF has been crucial in countering piracy and containing Islamic State-linked militants in the mountainous Bari region. If Emirati funding evaporates, experts warn of a security vacuum that militants could exploit to regroup.

Sudan spillover

Beyond Somalia, analysts say the UAE-Somalia rupture could complicate alleged Emirati logistics routes linked to Sudan’s civil war. Khartoum and advocacy groups have accused Abu Dhabi of funnelling arms to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), charges the UAE has denied.

Amnesty International said in 2025 it identified advanced weaponry it assessed was “almost certainly” supplied by the UAE to the RSF, and a UN Security Council document circulated the same year cited “conclusive material evidence” of arms deliveries.

Investigators have long tracked supply routes that crisscross the Red Sea corridor and Horn of Africa ports — precisely the geography where the UAE is now losing its foothold.

Without permissive operating environments in Berbera and potentially Bosaso, a regional security analyst said, any covert logistics chain into Sudan would become harder to conceal and sustain.

For Somalia, the confrontation is a bid to rebalance external influence, betting that partners like Turkey can offset the loss of Emirati support.

For the UAE, the row threatens to blunt a strategy that fused commercial port concessions with security partnerships.

As withdrawals unfold, Somalia’s leadership faces the high-stakes task of asserting sovereignty without letting the security architecture along its vast coastline collapse.

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