By Abdilatif Ahmed

Talk of a deeper, longer-term security partnership between Puntland and the United States, potentially involving an expanded American footprint in Bosaso, would mark one of the more consequential developments in the Horn of Africa’s recent security landscape. It is worth noting this is not a cooperation being built from scratch: U.S. forces have already struck ISIS-Somalia targets near Bosaso repeatedly since early 2025, AFRICOM has acknowledged operating in the area, and the UAE has maintained a substantial security and port-infrastructure presence in the city since 2017. What is being discussed, then, is less the birth of a partnership than its formalization and expansion — with all the opportunity and complexity that implies.
A Longer History Than It Appears
This cooperation also has deeper roots than the current Bosaso discussion suggests. Puntland and the United States have worked together on security matters since close to the state’s founding in 1998: in 2001, under President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Puntland stood up the Puntland Intelligence Service (later reorganized as the Puntland Intelligence Agency, and today the Puntland Intelligence Security Agency) as a joint venture with U.S. intelligence support, built specifically to counter the spread of Islamist militancy in the region. That agency has since served as Puntland’s primary counterterrorism and intelligence arm, and its evolution — including a 2009 restructuring, agreed with U.S. officials, that split it into a distinct security force and intelligence service — reflects a partnership that has been continuously renegotiated rather than newly invented. Framed against that history, the current Bosaso discussion looks less like a new chapter and more like the latest, higher-stakes iteration of a two-decade relationship.
Why Bosaso Matters
Bosaso sits on the Gulf of Aden, adjacent to one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors linking Europe, the Gulf, and Asia. That geography has already drawn in the UAE, which has backed the Puntland Maritime Police Force since 2010 and holds a 30-year concession, through P&O Ports, to develop and manage Bosaso’s port. It has also made the city a recurring launch point for U.S. and allied counter-ISIS operations in the nearby Cal Miskaad mountains.
Beyond the coastline, exploratory surveys point to possible mineral deposits in Puntland, though nothing commercially viable has yet been confirmed. If that changes, it would add another layer to the region’s strategic value — and another reason security and governance need to keep pace with investment.
Security Gains
Puntland has generally shown more institutional resilience against al-Shabaab, ISIS-Somalia, piracy, and arms trafficking than other parts of Somalia, aided by sustained U.S. and Emirati support. But the threat picture is widening: Red Sea instability and Houthi activity off Yemen raise the risk of maritime insecurity and smuggling spilling into the Gulf of Aden, adding an Iran-linked proxy dimension to an already complex threat environment.
A deeper U.S. relationship could plausibly strengthen:
Intelligence-sharing and early-warning systems
Maritime domain awareness and coastal defense
Counterterrorism training and border/migration security
Counter-financing and arms-interdiction efforts
Communications and logistics infrastructure
Economic Stakes
Security partnerships of this kind typically bring infrastructure investment — ports, transport, telecoms — that can spill over into broader economic activity. Bosaso’s port, already central to Puntland’s economy and under long-term UAE development, could see this reinforced further. Should mineral exploration eventually pay off, mining could join fisheries, livestock, and maritime trade as a pillar of diversification — provided it’s managed transparently.
Constitutional and Political Complications
Foreign affairs sit primarily with Somalia’s Federal Government under the Provisional Constitution, which means any formal Puntland–U.S. arrangement would need to be reconciled with Mogadishu’s constitutional role — a live tension given the ongoing standoff between Puntland and the federal government over control of security forces in Bosaso itself. Sustained American engagement nonetheless reinforces Puntland’s reputation as a stable, capable security partner relative to much of the rest of Somalia, a status likely to keep growing as competition over Red Sea security and critical minerals intensifies.
Regional Competition
The Horn of Africa is now a crowded field: the Gulf states, Türkiye, China, and Western powers are all expanding their footprint across the Red Sea corridor, competing over ports, energy routes, and digital infrastructure as much as military basing. An expanded U.S. role in Bosaso would be one more variable in that broader contest, with implications for freedom of navigation and shipping security across the Gulf of Aden.
Outlook
Whether a more formal Puntland–U.S. partnership becomes a genuine asset will depend less on the scale of military cooperation than on how it’s governed: transparency in negotiation, a workable constitutional footing with the Federal Government, and institutions capable of managing the resulting investment responsibly. Bosaso’s geography and Puntland’s security track record already make it a significant actor in regional counterterrorism and maritime security; how the politics around Bosaso are managed — both internally and with Mogadishu — will determine whether that translates into lasting stability or becomes another flashpoint in Somalia’s federal disputes.