In early August, the commander of US Special Operations Command Africa, Major General Claude Tudor, signed a deal with the president of Somalia’s northeastern, semi-autonomous Puntland State, Saeed Abdullahi Deni.
The two agreed to expand the American military base in Bosaso, a port city on the Gulf of Aden. According to a brief statement circulated by the Puntland Government of Somalia, the expansion is essential to “improve operations against terrorism and to help protect maritime security”.
“The Puntland state remains committed to fighting terrorism and any threat that could harm the security, stability, and development of Puntland, Somalia, and the Horn of Africa,” the statement reads.
The US has previously utilised a United Arab Emirates-built air base in Bosaso primarily for Puntland’s Maritime Police Force (PMPF), a regional force backed by the UAE to combat piracy and trained, in part, by the notorious US private military contractor Xe, formerly known as Blackwater.
Its regional administration and lack of military licensure made the Bosaso Air Base and the PMPF a direct violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1425 and the UN arms embargo on Somalia, prior to the UN Security Council lifting the embargo in late 2023.
