BERBERA, Somalia – In the strategic waters surrounding the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, the United Arab Emirates has aggressively expanded a network of military and intelligence bases, creating a formidable ring of control around one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.
While this network spans from Yemen’s Socotra archipelago to the Bab al-Mandab strait, its most crucial and functional outposts are located on the coast of Somalia, in the autonomous regions of Puntland and Somaliland. These Somali bases serve as the linchpin for the UAE’s broader ambitions, projecting its power across the Horn of Africa and directly fueling the conflict in Sudan.
The UAE’s overarching strategy involves leveraging its immense financial power and diplomatic influence to establish footholds in fragile or under-governed states. This expansion, conducted in close coordination with allies like the United States and Israel, has accelerated since the October 7 attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza.
The network of bases—on Yemeni islands like Abd al-Kuri, Samhah, and Mayun—facilitates a shared intelligence and missile defense umbrella, primarily aimed at monitoring shipping and countering threats from Iran-aligned Houthi forces. However, the Emirati bases in Somalia’s ports of Bosaso and Berbera have taken on a distinct and pivotal role beyond maritime surveillance.
The UAE’s operations in Somalia are defined by its exploitation of the country’s internal political divisions. By bypassing the federal government in Mogadishu and dealing directly with the regional administrations of Puntland and Somaliland, Abu Dhabi has cultivated powerful local allies while fostering what has been described as a “chronic enmity” with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. This approach allows the UAE to operate with considerable autonomy, transforming these coastal regions into strategic hubs for its regional power plays.
Bosaso: The supply lines
In Puntland, the Bosaso Air Base, adjacent to the international airport, has been transformed into a sophisticated Emirati-managed military facility. Satellite imagery reveals an extensive complex featuring a French-made GM-403 or Israeli EL/M-2084 radar system capable of tracking targets over 400km away, covering the entire Gulf of Aden.
The base includes fortified ammunition depots, a dedicated cargo area for heavy transport aircraft, hangars, a field hospital, and facilities for the Puntland Maritime Police Force, which was initially established with UAE backing in violation of a UN arms embargo.
Between January 2024 and January 2025, the base underwent rapid expansion, with the construction of three new helipads and large hangars capable of accommodating drones, signaling a significant upgrade in its operational capacity.
Crucially, the Bosaso base functions as the primary logistical pipeline for the UAE’s support of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s devastating civil war. Multiple Sudanese and diplomatic sources confirm that Bosaso is used to transfer weapons and ammunition to the RSF, which the United States has accused of committing genocide.
Satellite imagery has frequently captured Russian-made IL-76 heavy transport aircraft and C-130 Hercules military transports on the airfield. In early 2024, these supply flights reportedly arrived two to three times per day; by mid-2025, the frequency had settled at around 15 flights per month, demonstrating a sustained and substantial supply line.
This direct link from Somali soil to the Sudanese battlefront makes Bosaso an essential node in the UAE’s interventionist foreign policy.
Berbera: Strategic hub
Further west along the Somali coast, the UAE has cultivated a deep strategic partnership with Somaliland, the autonomous region with the strongest independence movement. In 2017, seeking to bolster its claims for autonomy, the Somaliland government agreed to host an Emirati military base in the port city of Berbera.
What was once a stalled project has been quietly transformed into a premier strategic facility. The base now features a modern military port, a deep-water dock, and a 4-kilometer-long runway capable of accommodating heavy transport aircraft and fighter jets. This immense infrastructure has turned Berbera into a regionally significant military hub.
Reinforcing its long-term commitment, Abu Dhabi also finalized an agreement in June 2025 to build a railway linking the port of Berbera to Ethiopia, cementing its economic and logistical dominance in the Horn of Africa.
These two Somali bases are not isolated outposts but are intricately connected to the UAE’s other facilities in the region. Ship-tracking data reveals a constant flow of vessels, such as the Takreem and the al-Mabroukah 2, moving between Bosaso, Berbera, the main island of Socotra, and the newly militarized Yemeni islands, weaving the disparate locations into a cohesive and mutually supportive network.
In conclusion, while the UAE’s ring of bases serves multiple strategic purposes, its presence in Somalia stands out for its direct impact on regional conflicts and its masterful exploitation of local political fractures.
By establishing sophisticated logistical and military hubs in Bosaso and Berbera, the UAE has not only secured a dominant position over the Gulf of Aden. However, it has also created a critical corridor to project its influence and supply its proxies, most notably in the tragic war in Sudan.
These Somali operations are the most explicit demonstration of the small Gulf monarchy’s monumental and ambitious plans to reshape the entire region’s geopolitical landscape.