Somalia: US signs Bosaso base deal with Puntland, bypassing Mogadishu

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – The United States military has signed a new security agreement with Puntland, Somalia’s northeastern federal member state, bypassing the federal government in Mogadishu altogether – a move analysts describe as the clearest evidence yet of a hardening American “dual-track” policy toward Somalia, driven by Washington’s mounting exasperation with the political infighting paralysing the capital and undercutting the broader war against Al-Shabaab and ISIS-Somalia.

The agreement was signed on Sunday during talks in the port city of Bosaso between Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni and a high-level American delegation from the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), led by Major General Claude Tudor, commander of AFRICOM’s Special Operations component.

“The President of the Puntland State, H.E Said Abdullahi Deni, together with ministers, military officers, and advisors, held a meeting in Bosaso with a delegation from the United States Government, especially AFRICOM, led by Major General Claude Tudor, Commander of AFRICOM Special Operations,” Deni said in a statement posted on X.

“The meeting focused on strengthening cooperation between Puntland and the United States, especially in fighting terrorism and improving security in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,” he added.

Bosaso Base Set for Expansion

Puntland’s leadership confirmed that the centrepiece of the talks was a new deal to expand the American military footprint at Bosaso and deepen maritime security cooperation — a move widely expected to support operations against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, a scenario long anticipated by regional observers.

“Puntland and the United States also signed a new agreement to expand their cooperation. Under the agreement, the United States will expand its military base in Bosaso to improve operations against terrorism and to help protect maritime security,” Deni said.

Somaliland Talks Mirror Puntland Deal

The same US delegation had, days earlier, held parallel talks with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi and members of his cabinet on August 1 in Hargeisa.

Authorities on both sides said security cooperation and maritime security dominated the discussion – the very themes underpinning the Puntland agreement.

“Dual-Track Diplomacy” in Full View

For Horn of Africa analysts, the near-simultaneous engagements with Puntland and Somaliland — two territories operating largely outside Mogadishu’s direct control — signal a deliberate American recalibration.

“The US military is actively stepping up ‘dual-track diplomacy’ to deepen cooperation with strategic Somali territories — Somaliland, Puntland and Jubaland,” said Rashid Abdi, a Horn of Africa analyst at Nairobi-based Sahan Research.

“The three are crucial US partners and deemed more active in the fight against terrorist groups in the Horn. The US military signed a deal with Puntland for use of region for counterterrorism, maritime security purposes,” Abdi said.

A Warning from Washington’s Own Policy Circles

The expanding US footprint in Somalia’s northern territories has not gone unchallenged inside Washington’s own foreign policy establishment. A recent report by the think tank Defense Priorities cautioned against American plans to build up to four military and naval bases in the breakaway region of Somaliland, alongside additional installations in neighbouring Puntland, warning that such a push would drag the United States deeper into Somalia’s quagmire and yield nothing but damage to American interests while driving up the costs of what it called an endless war.

On Washington’s rationale that a stronger footprint is needed to counter the Houthi threat, the report argued that no insurgency has ever been defeated through air power alone, and that the Houthi threat can only be genuinely resolved by addressing its root causes — namely, ending the conflict in Gaza and the wider confrontation with Iran.

Rather than deepening its entanglement in Somalia’s internal conflicts, the report urged Washington to fully withdraw from the country, arguing the United States derives no meaningful strategic interest from remaining.

Patience Wearing Thin in Washington

Underscoring the shift, AFRICOM’s chief Gen. Dagvin Anderson signalled in an interview on Friday that the US military’s continued presence in Somalia could become untenable if Somali leaders fail to resolve their political disputes and dysfunction. He noted growing voices in Washington questioning when Somalis will take full ownership of their own security, stressing that Somalia must ultimately assume complete responsibility for its own security future.

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