Mysterious Airstrikes Target Three Foreign Fighter Training Camps in Somaliland

   Sources familiar with the matter told Sheba Intelligence that three training camps believed to be used by foreign fighters in Somaliland were recently targeted by unidentified aircraft during July, in what appears to have been a coordinated operation supported by prior intelligence.

According to the sources, the camps were located at separate sites within the triangle between Berbera, Hargeisa, and Burao. The identity of the attacking force, the extent of the damage, and the groups operating the facilities remain unconfirmed, and no official authority has claimed responsibility for the strikes.

The sources indicated that some of the targeted camps may have been used to train foreign fighters, including Yemenis. However, Sheba Intelligence has not independently verified the affiliation of each site or the identities of the groups operating the camps.

The reported strikes follow a series of Sheba Intelligence investigations published in June documenting the expansion of covert military activity inside Somaliland. On June 12, From Al-Luhiya to Somaliland: Somalia Enters the Red Sea Shadow War examined the growing transfer of Yemen-linked military activities into Somaliland amid intensifying regional competition across the Red Sea. On June 26, Somaliland Becomes a Shadow Training Ground for the Houthis and UAE-Linked Forces revealed the existence of clandestine training camps hosting Houthi-linked operatives and Yemeni fighters associated with UAE-backed networks, highlighting the emergence of a parallel military infrastructure beyond Yemen’s borders.

Meanwhile, Somali media outlets have recently circulated unconfirmed reports claiming that airstrikes targeted suspected ISIS-linked positions west of Berbera. Neither the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) nor the Somaliland authorities have acknowledged such an operation, leaving both the identity of the targets and the attacking force unresolved.

Sheba Intelligence continues to investigate the identities of the targeted camps, the groups operating them, and the party responsible for the strikes, amid growing indications that Somaliland has become an increasingly contested arena for intelligence and military competition linked to the security dynamics of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.