In the dusty hinterlands behind Bosaso Airport in Puntland, a secretive supply route has taken root—one that ties Somalia’s semi-autonomous northeast directly into the heart of Sudan’s grinding civil war. Intelligence and diplomatic sources familiar with the region’s shifting dynamics confirm that the United Arab Emirates has quietly transformed Bosaso into a critical node in its alleged weapons pipeline to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group battling Sudan’s military for control of the country.
The operation, sources say, involves discreet cargo flights and unmarked aircraft shuttling military equipment and personnel through Bosaso en route to RSF strongholds in Darfur and central Sudan. While the UAE has officially denied any direct involvement in fueling the Sudanese conflict, multiple Western and African officials have grown increasingly concerned about the UAE’s use of Somali territory as a logistical platform.
“This is not just about arms shipments anymore. This is about a parallel foreign policy unfolding in the Horn of Africa, one that sidelines regional stability for narrow geopolitical advantage,” said a senior East African intelligence official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Bosaso, a port city perched on the Gulf of Aden, has long served as a strategic entry point for trade—and, less officially, for arms and contraband. Its airport, though modest in appearance, has seen a noticeable uptick in nighttime activity over the past year. Cargo planes, reportedly operated by third-party contractors linked to Emirati firms, land and depart under the cover of darkness, avoiding standard customs protocols and often using secluded areas of the airstrip.
Local sources, including aviation workers and Puntland security officials, have described “highly restricted zones” at the airport, managed by foreign personnel with minimal oversight from Somali authorities. “What we see is foreign control within our borders,” said a mid-ranking Puntland security officer who declined to be named. “Our own government looks the other way because the money flows freely and because no one wants to challenge the UAE.”
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a catastrophic war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF under General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti. Thousands have been killed, and millions displaced. While Egypt and other actors have aligned with the SAF, the RSF is widely believed to enjoy backing from the UAE, which sees Hemeti as a pliable partner in its broader Red Sea and Sahel strategy.
“The UAE has long sought to shape outcomes in Sudan to secure commercial and security interests, especially along the Red Sea corridor,” said Michael Hanna, a senior fellow at the International Crisis Group. “Their involvement with the RSF, while denied publicly, follows a pattern seen in Yemen and Libya.”
The arms shipments allegedly funnelled through Bosaso are believed to include light weapons, drones, communications equipment, and even mercenary reinforcements drawn from across the region. Some cargo reportedly continues from Bosaso to Chad or Central African airfields before entering Sudanese territory.
Puntland’s leadership, though nominally part of Somalia’s federal structure, has long maintained a separate security posture and foreign relations. It has welcomed Emirati investments in port infrastructure and counterterrorism training over the past decade. But critics say this alignment now threatens to entangle Puntland in a regional war it cannot afford.
“Allowing Bosaso to become a staging ground for foreign interventions in Sudan not only violates Somalia’s neutrality, it also risks retaliation from rival factions and foreign actors,” warned Abdirahman Warsame, a Mogadishu-based political analyst.
In recent weeks, diplomats in Mogadishu have raised concerns with the Somali federal government over the lack of transparency surrounding flights in and out of Bosaso. The United Nations Panel of Experts on Sudan is also believed to be investigating the routes used to smuggle arms into the conflict zone, including those transiting Somali soil.
For now, the operation continues largely in silence. Neither the Puntland government nor Somali federal authorities have publicly acknowledged Bosaso’s role in the arms corridor, and the UAE maintains that its involvement in Sudan is strictly humanitarian.
But on the ground, the evidence points to a far more complex—and potentially destabilising reality.
“This is how conflicts metastasise,” said a Western diplomat familiar with the Horn of Africa. “When countries like Somalia, already grappling with internal divisions, become silent conduits for foreign wars, they risk importing instability they cannot control.”
