Commercial satellite imagery analyzed by open-source intelligence investigators shows a significant expansion of military infrastructure at and around the Berbera air base in Somaliland over the past three months, underscoring the territory’s growing strategic importance following Israel’s recent recognition.
The images reveal extensive excavation work, the construction of new facilities believed to include ammunition depots, and what appear to be at least a dozen underground bunkers carved into the surrounding terrain. Analysts also identified major upgrades to the airport’s main apron, along with the expansion of hardened aircraft shelters and drone hangars originally built between 2021 and 2022. In addition, satellite photos show a large new berth excavated near the airport and extending into the Gulf of Aden, suggesting expanded naval or logistics capabilities.
Who is backing the expansion remains officially undisclosed, but regional involvement has long been suspected. The United Arab Emirates has been active in Somaliland since 2017, despite objections from Somalia’s internationally recognised government in Mogadishu, using Berbera as a logistics hub to support allied armed factions in Yemen and Sudan. The base has also drawn sustained interest from the United States, with Africa Command officials visiting regularly since 2021. In November, AFRICOM commander General Dagvin Anderson traveled to Somaliland, citing goals of strengthening security and counterterrorism cooperation.
Israeli media have increasingly highlighted Somaliland’s “strategic significance” since 2024, with analysts pointing to possible covert cooperation well before Israel’s official recognition of the territory this week. The newly revealed construction has intensified speculation that Israeli security interests may now be intersecting more openly with existing Gulf and U.S. involvement.
Berbera’s value lies largely in its geography. The base overlooks the western Gulf of Aden and sits less than 300 kilometers from the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical chokepoint for global shipping. It is also about 240 kilometers from Djibouti, home to multiple foreign military bases, and roughly 530 to 550 kilometers from major Yemeni cities controlled by Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, who are adversaries of Israel, the United States and Gulf states.
The site’s strategic relevance is not new. The Soviet Union helped construct Berbera’s port, naval facilities and military airbase in the 1960s, before severing ties with Somalia in the 1970s after Mogadishu went to war with Ethiopia. Somalia’s later collapse and Somaliland’s unilateral declaration of independence in 1991 left the region in geopolitical limbo, creating a vacuum that external powers have steadily moved to fill.
With fresh satellite evidence pointing to rapid militarisation, Berbera now appears to be emerging as a key node in Red Sea and Gulf of Aden security dynamics, linking Israel’s new diplomatic move with broader U.S. and Gulf strategic interests in one of the world’s most sensitive maritime corridors.
