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BLN Exposed It, MEE Confirmed It: Somalia’s Bosaso Revealed as the UAE’s Secret Hub in Sudan’s War

MEE Exclusive Investigation Confirms BLN Investigative Series on the UAE’s Covert War Network in Somalia. An exclusive field report by MEE, independently substantiating BLN’s original English-language investigations, exposes the Abu Dhabi regime’s covert operations, secret airlifts, mercenary routes, and proxy logistics across Puntland.

November 2, 2025
165

By Sabah Al-Makki

Writing from within the storm

On July 3, 2025, Brown Land News (BLN) published “The Silent Front: How the UAE Turned Somalia into a Proxy War Platform,” revealing how the Abu Dhabi regime had transformed Somalia’s northern coastline into a hidden war corridor supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Four months later, on October 31, 2025, Middle East Eye (MEE) released an extensive field investigation titled “Exclusive: Inside the UAE’s Secret Sudan War Operation at Somalia’s Bosaso,” which independently confirmed in meticulous detail what BLN had reported throughout 2025, including the existence of Emirati cargo flights, covert maritime shipments, Colombian mercenaries, and foreign radar systems operating under Emirati control in Puntland.

Editor’s Note:

Said Abdullahi Deni

Puntland is a semi-autonomous federal state within the Federal Republic of Somalia, with its capital in Garowe, and it includes the strategic Port of Bosaso on the northeastern coast along the Gulf of Aden.
While Puntland formally recognizes the authority of the federal government in Mogadishu, it operates with significant autonomy. It maintains its own political and economic agreements with foreign powers, including the United Arab Emirates. The region is currently led by Said Abdullahi Deni, considered one of Abu Dhabi’s closest allies in the Horn of Africa.

Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi “Irro”

Somaliland, located in the northwest, has its capital in Hargeisa and controls the Port of Berbera, which lies on the southern shore of the Gulf of Aden.
It unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and is today governed by President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi “Irro”, although it remains unrecognized internationally.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

The Federal Government of Somalia, based in Mogadishu, is led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (in office since 2022) and is the only internationally recognized Somali authority.
This fragmentation between the central government and the semi-autonomous regions has enabled the UAE to expand its influence through Bosaso and Berbera, bypassing Mogadishu’s central authority.

I. The Road to Exposure

The MEE exclusive investigation came months after BLN’s reports, confirming independently and with precision the same facts BLN had previously uncovered regarding the UAE’s covert role in Bosaso and its proxy warfare network spanning Somalia and Sudan.

Since early 2025, BLN has published a series of investigations outlining the hidden architecture of Abu Dhabi’s regime operations across the Horn of Africa:

  • May 2025: BLN published the first eyewitness testimony from a Bosaso port employee confirming that an Emirati vessel offloaded undeclared cargo under the guise of humanitarian aid.
  • May 2025: A follow-up report titled “Somaliland and Bosaso… Sudan Under” linked Emirati bases in Berbera and Bosaso to the supply chain sustaining the RSF.
  • May 2025: Another exclusive revealed that Puntland’s President, Said Abdullahi Deni, secretly received $20 million from the UAE in exchange for undisclosed exploration rights, evidence of deep political penetration.
  • July 2025: BLN’s flagship investigation, “The Silent Front: How the UAE Turned Somalia into a Proxy War Platform,” exposed the whole structure of the UAE’s network stretching from Bosaso to Darfur, including airlifts, shell cargo companies, and Colombian mercenaries.
  • August 2025: A report documented Somali soldiers killed fighting alongside RSF units in Darfur, the first evidence of Somali involvement in Sudan’s conflict.
  • September 2025: Exclusive BLN photographs showed Colombian mercenaries en route to Bosaso aboard Ethiopian Airlines, later corroborated by MEE.

Together, these investigations established a coherent framework that exposed the UAE’s covert influence in Somalia months before MEE’s on-the-ground confirmation.

II. The Silent Front

In “The Silent Front,” BLN detailed the UAE’s logistical and intelligence network linking Bosaso and Berbera to Darfur.
The report identified Kyrgyz-registered, Emirati-owned cargo firms, including Gewan Airways and New Way Cargo Airlines, operating Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft from Al Dhafra and Al Reef bases in the UAE to Bosaso, before continuing toward Nyala (Darfur), Chad, or Libya with drones, ammunition, and personnel.

BLN also uncovered the presence of Colombian mercenaries recruited by the UAE-based Global Security Service Group (GSSG), trained within Puntland’s Maritime Police Force (PMPF) compounds, and later deployed to Sudan.
Satellite imagery and port testimonies revealed “aid-labelled” containers being reloaded onto military aircraft for undisclosed destinations.

III. MEE’s On-the-Ground Corroboration

Middle East Eye’s field report, “Exclusive: Inside the UAE’s Secret Sudan War Operation at Somalia’s Bosaso,” confirmed BLN’s framework through first-hand interviews, flight-tracking data, and photographic evidence.

Key overlaps include:

  • The Bosaso Airlift: MEE documented IL-76 cargo planes landing in Bosaso, offloading undisclosed materials, then transferring them to outbound aircraft bound for Sudan.
  • Hazardous Cargo: Bosaso’s port manager confirmed that over 500,000 containers marked “hazardous” had entered Somalia through Emirati channels with no declared content.
  • Foreign Fighters: Photos of Colombian mercenaries arriving in Bosaso and entering UAE-run compounds matched BLN’s exclusive images from September.
  • Medical Facility for RSF Fighters: PMPF officers told MEE that Colombian mercenaries had built a field hospital inside their compound to treat RSF fighters wounded in Sudan. One officer recalled a plane landing with “blood-stained doors,” confirming the camp’s role as a medical transit point for RSF casualties before being flown elsewhere.
  • Radar Systems: MEE confirmed a foreign-made radar near Bosaso Airport, believed to be French, used to secure UAE operations. This complements BLN’s earlier reports of Israeli-manufactured radar systems installed under Emirati supervision.
  • Political Complicity: Experts cited by MEE identified Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni as Abu Dhabi’s closest ally, echoing BLN’s earlier political investigation.

The findings of both investigations align closely, turning BLN’s early warnings into internationally verified evidence supported by field documentation.

IV. Strategic Motives and Regional Implications

Both BLN and MEE conclude that the UAE’s activities in Somalia are driven not by development or counterterrorism, but by geostrategic and economic ambitions.

In “The Silent Front,” BLN exposed Abu Dhabi’s regime pursuit of Sudanese gold, livestock, and rare minerals, along with its effort to dominate Red Sea trade routes.
MEE later quoted Horn of Africa expert Martin Plaut, confirming that the UAE’s drive for gold and regional dominance remains the main incentive behind its involvement in Sudan.

The convergence of these findings demonstrates that the Rapid Support Forces(RSF) militia war is part of a broader Emirati strategy to reshape East Africa’s geopolitical landscape under the guise of partnership and stability.

V. Legal and Moral Accountability

When BLN first warned that Puntland’s leadership risked complicity in war crimes committed in Sudan, the claim was widely ignored.
Four months later, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced it had “reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity” were occurring in Sudan, adding that regional authorities facilitating such crimes could face accountability.

MEE quoted experts who said “Puntland authorities may have a case to answer before international courts.”
This conclusion directly intersects with BLN’s earlier warnings about potential legal responsibility for local actors aiding Emirati operations.

VI. Why It Matters

The confirmation of BLN’s investigative findings by MEE underscores three key truths:

  1. Bosaso Airport and Port serve as operational hubs for the UAE’s logistical support to the RSF.
  2. Somalia’s sovereignty has been systematically compromised through militarisation and the deployment of foreign mercenaries.
  3. The Abu Dhabi regime’s influence extends beyond warfare, embedding itself within Puntland’s political and economic structures.

This transnational network of ports, airfields, and mercenaries forms the backbone of a regional proxy war machine that threatens both Somali stability and Sudan’s survival.

VII. Brown Land News: Early Warning and Continuing Watch

MEE’s investigation confirms what BLN has been documenting since early 2025, that northern Somali ports and airfields have become the logistical core of the Abu Dhabi regime’s proxy war in Sudan.

BLN’s coverage now expands through a dedicated Arabic investigative series titled “Ports Under Surveillance: The Abu Dhabi Regime’s Strategy to Redraw the Regional Map of Power in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.”
The series, soon to be translated into English, includes:

  • Part I: The Hidden Engineering of Abu Dhabi’s Influence: From Investment to Intelligence
  • Part II: From Engineered Influence to Soft Occupation (forthcoming)

These studies trace how Abu Dhabi’s influence on architecture extends from investment and intelligence operations to proxy warfare across East Africa and the Red Sea.

VIII. Conclusion

The war in Sudan is not fought only in Darfur. It is sustained from across the sea, through Somali territory militarised under foreign command.

From Bosaso’s runways to Berbera’s docks, the Abu Dhabi regime has built an offshore front of warfare disguised as trade, aid, and partnership.
MEE’s confirmation of BLN’s findings marks not an end but a beginning; a turning point for accountability.

The evidence is now undeniable. The world must confront those who ignite wars by proxy, profit from destruction, and hide their footprints behind the veneer of diplomacy and humanitarianism.

Sources

About the Author

Sabah Al-Makki is a Sudanese writer and Assistant Editor at Brown Land News. Her work examines political violence, international law, cultural resistance, and social awareness through the lens of Sudan’s unfolding realities.

She challenges dominant narratives by centring the voices of Sudanese citizens — both inside the country and across the diaspora — whose perspectives are often excluded from global discourse. Her writing interrogates the meanings of war, peace, and justice, insisting that actual change begins with dismantling colonial paradigms.

Sabah approaches journalism as a form of cultural, cognitive, and philosophical resistance, confronting the structures that sustain conflict and silence. She writes from within the storm.

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November 2, 2025
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