Somalia’s Al-Shabaab vows to fight any Israeli use of Somaliland after recognition

‘We will not accept it,’ terror group says in statement after Jerusalem becomes first to recognize breakaway republic, in move that may help it combat Yemen’s Houthis

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al-Shabaab vowed Saturday to fight any attempt by Israel “to claim or use parts of Somaliland” following Jerusalem’s recognition of the breakaway territory.

“We will not accept it, and we will fight against it,” Al-Shabaab said in a statement.

The group’s spokesman, Ali Dheere, said in the statement that Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state showed it “has decided to expand into parts of the Somali territories” to support “the apostate administration in the northwest regions.”

Al-Shabaab has little presence in Somaliland. The group has been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government of Somalia for more than 17 years, and while security has significantly improved in the capital, Mogadishu, the war still rages 60 kilometers from the capital.

Last year, a suicide bomber and gunman from the group killed 32 people at a beach in Mogadishu; a car bomb detonated by the group killed five people in the capital; and the organization killed three people and wounded 27 in an hours-long siege of a hotel in Mogadishu.

Israel said Friday it was officially recognizing Somaliland, becoming the first country to recognize the self-proclaimed republic that in 1991 declared it had unilaterally seceded from Somalia.

Mogadishu immediately denounced a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty, while Egypt, Turkey, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation all condemned Israel’s move.

Regional analysts believe that a rapprochement with Somaliland could allow Israel to secure better access to the Red Sea, potentially making it easier for it to conduct strikes and surveil the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Press reports a few months ago said Somaliland was among a handful of African territories willing to host Gazans under a now largely abandoned plan to resettle some of the Strip’s population. But neither the Somaliland authorities nor the Israeli government has ever commented on those reports.

“It is humiliation of the highest level today, to see some Somali people celebrating a recognition by the Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu” when “Israel is the biggest enemy of the Islamic society,” Dheere said.

The territory of Somaliland is roughly a third the size of France and corresponds more or less to the former British Somaliland protectorate.

It has its own currency, military and police, while enjoying relative stability compared to its neighbors.

While no other countries have formally recognized it, several states — including the UK, Ethiopia, Turkey, the UAE, Denmark, Kenya and Taiwan — maintain liaison offices, and the Trump administration has signaled in recent months that it could change its stance on the breakaway region.

Yet the lack of recognition has left Somaliland politically and economically isolated despite its location on one of the world’s busiest trade routes connecting the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal.

Following Israel’s recognition, the Somaliland government said it seeks to join the Abraham Accords. The 2020 accords were brokered by Trump’s first administration and included Israel formalizing diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with other countries, including Morocco, joining later.

Channel 12 reported that Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi made a secret visit to Israel in October, meeting with Netanyahu, Mossad chief David Barnea and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

The network said that ties between the two governments emerged as Israel searched for countries willing to take in Gazans it was looking to move out of the Strip during the war — an effort that seems to have failed due to overwhelming international backlash against the notion.

Israel, which has become increasingly isolated internationally during the Gaza war, has made it a priority to expand its ties in Africa. In August, Israel reopened its embassy in Zambia after more than 50 years.

Lazar Berman contributed to this report.