Could Somaliland base emerge as US foothold against Iran, Houthis in key sea lanes?

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Africom general visits Somaliland in November

U.S.Air Force Gen.Dagvin Anderson, commander, U.S.Africa Command (AFRICOM) met with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi.He also visited Hargeisa and Berbera on Nov.26, 2025.(Video by Sgt.1st Class Kenneth Tucceri.)

JOHANNESBURG:A strategically important air base and port have been offered to the U.S.as ablockade of the Strait of Hormuzbegins and Iran-backed threats target the key Red Sea choke point of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Top U.S.military officials, including the commander of U.S.Africa Command (AFRICOM), Gen.Dagvin Anderson, recently visited facilities being offered in Somaliland.Somaliland is a pro-U.S.outpost, having broken away from war-torn Somalia in 1991.

Bab-el-Mandeb, which is Arabic for “gate of tears,” has become the main route for oil to ship out of the Middle East to Asia since the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed.Bloomberg News reported that Saudi Arabia has switched to shipping potentially up to 7 million barrels of oil a day from its port at Yanbu on the Red Sea through the strait.It’s reported that up to 14% of the world’s shipping passes through the 16-mile-wide strait.

IS TRUMP CONSIDERING BOLD AFRICA PLAY TO PUSH BACK ON CHINA, RUSSIA AND ISLAMIC TERRORISTS?

Somaliland security personnel standing in front of shipping containers at Berbera Port

Somaliland security personnel stand watch in front of shipping containers being stored at Berbera Port.(Ed Ram/AFP)

Enter the controversial offer to the U.S.of an air and naval base at Berbera in Somaliland.The official Republic of Somaliland site on X extolled Berbera’s virtues last month, boasting that it has “a deep water port along the artery connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean”, and “one of Africa’s longest runways, originally developed as a NASA emergency landing site.”

“Berbera obviously has huge strategic potential,” for sea and air operations, Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former U.K.

Aerial view of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait showing waterway and surrounding land.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a sea route connecting the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, on Oct.22, 2020.(Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2021)

The U.S.�s policies: “Djibouti becomes an increasingly reluctant, unwilling ally to the U.S. in helping enforce sanctions on the Houthis.Somaliland, which is almost equally well-placed to address issues on the western and southwestern coasts of Yemen, can help the U.S., Israel and the UAE combat the Houthis.”

The controversy comes over the question of U.S.recognition of Somaliland.

Somaliland president meets Africom general

Gen.Dagvin Anderson, commander, U.S.Africa Command, meets with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi in Hargeisa, Somaliland, on Nov.26, 2025.(U.S.Army photo by Capt.Ubon Mendie)

President Donald Trump, in the Oval Office last August, told reporters, “We’re looking into that right now,” when asked about the recognition of Somaliland and the possible resettlement of Gazans there, adding, “We’re working on that right now, Somaliland.”

�The United States continues to recognize the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia, which includes the territory of Somaliland.”

Last year Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland.

TRUMP SEEKS WARSHIPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO HELP SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ

USS Carter Hall and USS Bataan transit Bab al-Mandeb strait

In this image provided by the U.S.Navy, the amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall and amphibious assault ship USS Bataan transit the Bab al-Mandeb strait on Aug.9, 2023.(Mass Communications Spc.2nd Class Moises Sandoval/U.S.Navy via AP)

Iran is pushing the Houthisto take action in the Red Sea.“Insecurity in other straits, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea, is one of the options of the Resistance Front, and the situation will become much more complicated than it is today for the Americans,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-linked Tasmin news agency warned on March 21.

Baraa Shaiban, an expert on the Houthis at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), says the recognition of Somaliland is problematic, as it “will upset the U.S.relationship with the Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, many of which are U.S.allies.It would be unwise for the United States to upset its allies in the region just to gain access to Somaliland ports.”

Houthi fighters taking control of the Galaxy Leader Cargo ship off Hudaydah Yemen

This handout screen grab captured from a video shows Yemen’s Houthi fighters’ takeover of the Galaxy Leader Cargo on the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah, on Nov.20, 2023, in the Red Sea, Yemen.(Houthi Movement/Getty Images)

�The U.S.is not seeking to establish new basing, as such actions do not align with the America First security framework articulated by the President and Secretary of War.”

While publicly both the use of bases and recognition of Somaliland are no-go areas, analysts say that with Somaliland offering the use of its bases without immediate recognition bythe administration, the issue is perhaps privately not off the table.

com/category/politics/defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AFRICOM’s Gen.Andersonand a large group of senior military officials in Somaliland.Anderson met with Somaliland’s president, and appeared to inspect the port in Berbera in November, just five months ago.

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That’s not the only reported visit.Somaliland’s top diplomatic representative in Washington, Bashir Goth, said at a recent Foreign Policy Research Institute debate, “The war in the Middle East has elevated Somaliland’s strategic importance.U.S.military interest has been very strong.Every month, there has been a delegation from AFRICOM to Hargeisa,” the capital of Somaliland.

Paul Tilsley is a veteran correspondent who has reported from four continents for more than three decades.Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, he can be followed on X @paultilsley.