Somaliland ready to send up to 2,000 troops to Gaza if asked, president Irro says

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somaliland is prepared to contribute up to 2,000 soldiers to an international stabilization force planned for Gaza, but it is waiting for the United States or Israel to make a formal request, President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi has said.

Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the MEAD conference, President Abdullahi said Somaliland was not volunteering troops for the force, but would be ready to respond if asked.

“If they ask, we can provide,” he said. “If they ask me, I am ready.”

The comments, reported by The Jerusalem Post, come as countries consider contributing personnel to a US-led force that is ultimately intended to deploy about 20,000 soldiers in Gaza.

Uganda has approved a contingent of about 1,200 troops, while Morocco has committed up to 500. Albania, Kazakhstan and Kosovo have also pledged personnel.

The force is expected to have responsibilities including maintaining security, training Palestinian police, facilitating humanitarian aid and preventing Hamas from re-establishing its military control.

Somaliland says it can provide troops

President Abdullahi said Somaliland has an army of approximately 25,000 soldiers and a coast guard of about 1,500 personnel.

The territory has not previously contributed troops to an African Union force.

His offer to provide up to 2,000 personnel would therefore represent a significant international military deployment by Somaliland if the United States or Israel were to formally request its participation.

Israel’s recognition puts Somaliland in the spotlight

In December, Israel became the first country to formally recognise Somaliland as an independent state, ending the territory’s 35-year struggle without international recognition.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, but Mogadishu continues to regard it as part of Somalia.

In June, Somaliland opened an embassy in Jerusalem during President Abdullahi’s first official visit to Israel. It was the territory’s first formally designated embassy in the world, although Somaliland also opened an embassy-like representative office in Taiwan in 2020.

President Abdullahi said Israel’s recognition had already significantly increased international attention on Somaliland, even though no other country had yet followed Israel’s lead.

“There has been much more attention paid to Somaliland following Israel’s recognition,” he said. “Now you can find the word ‘Somaliland’ in every language in the world – in Indian, Arabic and Chinese.”

He said Somaliland had spent 35 years asking the world to “see us” and that international attention was now increasing.

President Irro expects greater US engagement

President Abdullahi is expected to meet members of the US Congress next week, including Senator Ted Cruz, one of Somaliland’s most vocal supporters in Washington.

Senator Cruz has called on the United States to recognise Somaliland, arguing that it could serve as an important American security and diplomatic partner in the strategically significant Horn of Africa.

President Abdullahi said he could not point to any American promise to recognise Somaliland, but said his government had discussed both recognition and security cooperation with US officials.

“We are optimistic,” he said.

Israel’s recognition increases tensions with Somalia and Turkey

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland has also increased tensions with Somalia and Turkey, one of Mogadishu’s closest military, economic and diplomatic partners.

Turkey has strongly opposed Israel’s move, arguing that Somaliland remains part of Somalia and that recognising its independence violates Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the recognition as illegitimate and unacceptable and accused Israel of attempting to destabilise the Horn of Africa.

Ankara operates a military base in Mogadishu. It also trains Somali troops, has supplied Somalia with armed drones and is exploring for oil and gas off the Somali coast.

Following Israel’s recognition, Turkey also deployed F-16 fighter jets to Somalia, further expanding its military presence there.

President Abdullahi said Turkey’s actions demonstrated that Israel’s recognition had produced concrete security consequences for Somaliland.

“There is no free lunch,” he said. “Everything has some negative and some positive.”

“We created new enemies,” he added, saying countries that had not previously provided Somalia with sophisticated weaponry were now doing so.

Somaliland says it needs greater military capabilities

Asked whether Somaliland faced a threat of invasion, President Abdullahi said Somalia’s president and defence minister had publicly spoken about invading the territory.

He said Somaliland had enough manpower to defend itself but needed more advanced weapons and technology.

“We need protection,” he said, adding that Somaliland was seeking assistance from Israel, the United States and other allies to “balance the situation”.

President Abdullahi said there was currently no Israeli or American security presence in Somaliland. He did not rule out such a presence in the future, saying it could create both balance and deterrence.

Asked directly whether he would like an Israeli security presence in Somaliland, he said he expected a foreign presence “maybe in the near future”.

President denies talks on Israeli operations against Houthis

President Abdullahi denied that Israel and Somaliland had discussed using Somaliland’s territory or airspace for operations against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.

Somaliland and Yemen face each other across the Gulf of Aden and have been neighbours for thousands of years, he said.

“As a country, Somaliland, we don’t have any conflict with the Houthis at the moment,” he said. “We haven’t discussed possible Israeli operations against them.”

He also denied reports that Somaliland had discussed accepting Palestinians from Gaza as part of its agreement with Israel.

“We haven’t discussed it with Israel, we haven’t discussed it with the Americans, we haven’t discussed it with anyone,” he said.

Security, trade and investment form part of Israel agreement

President Abdullahi said the recognition declaration signed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year provides for cooperation in security, trade, investment and economic development.

Water technology will be Somaliland’s top priority because the territory is semi-arid, he said.

During his visit to Tel Aviv, President Abdullahi said he met representatives of more than 100 Israeli companies, including firms interested in Somaliland’s potential oil and gas reserves.

No concrete Israeli investments have yet been made, he said, but added: “We expect” them.

The comments were reported by The Jerusalem Post following President Abdullahi’s interview on the sidelines of the MEAD conference.

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