Is US Building Secret Military Base in Somalia’s Bosaso Near Gulf of Aden?
The United States is reportedly expanding its military presence in Somalia, developing a new base in the port city of Bosaso to boost maritime security and carry out combat and surveillance operations against 'terror groups' in the region, even as the prospect of a US-Iran ceasefire remains uncertain.
The United States is reportedly expanding its military presence in Somalia, developing a new base in the port city of Bosaso to boost maritime security and carry out combat and surveillance operations against "terror groups" in the region, even as the prospect of a US-Iran ceasefire remains uncertain.
US Drones Spotted Over ISIS Strongholds
US surveillance drones have been spotted carrying out reconnaissance missions in Togga Miraale and Togga Baalade, two areas considered strongholds for ISIS militants, according to DropSite. The new base being developed in Bosaso, home to around a million people, is at the centre of a planned US militarisation of one of the world's most strategic waterways. About 25 percent of global maritime traffic flows through the Gulf of Aden, where Bosaso is located, and the city is also known as a major route for human trafficking and refugee flows into the Middle East. Iran War: JD Vance Warns of ‘Many Tools’ Against Tehran as Donald Trump Weighs Economic, Military Options.
Growing US Military Presence In Somalia
The United States has carried out an increasing number of drone strikes and raids supporting the Somali government in its conflict against ISIS. Under the Donald Trump administration, the US has conducted more airstrikes in Somalia than under any other president combined. Just 10 days after being sworn in for his second term, Trump announced that the US had targeted a senior ISIS figure in Somalia. Since then, 205 US airstrikes have been carried out, with 53 percent of the attacks targeting ISIS, as per think tank New America. Donald Trump Weighs Ending Iran War as Pentagon Extends Troop Deployment.
The new Bosaso base will be used for enhancing maritime security as well as combat and surveillance operations targeting "terror groups" in the region, Somali security officials told Dropsite, with the CIA also expected to expand its operations there. The US had earlier set up a counterterrorism unit in Somalia after 9/11, known as the Puntland Security Force, an elite unit that has continued operations even after American support formally ended in 2020.
US Faces New Threat In Somalia
Reports of the new base come as the US faces the prospect of an unlikely alliance between Yemen's Houthi rebels, linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the al-Shabaab terror group, which has been fighting in Somalia for two decades. Yemen and Somalia sit on opposite sides of the Gulf of Aden, and with the Strait of Hormuz still facing disruption, the Gulf of Aden could become more vital for oil shipments, according to the Wall Street Journal. Such an alliance could complicate the security situation in the Horn of Africa if Houthi-al-Shabaab gains access to more advanced weapons, drones and training, while also giving the Houthis greater reach to monitor or threaten maritime traffic across the Gulf of Aden.
The US has stepped up military action against al-Shabaab, conducting around 40 airstrikes against the group in Somalia this year.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 04, 2026 07:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
