Somalia President Seeks Saudi Backing to Secure Red Sea, Gulf of Aden From ‘Terrorist Groups’

Addis Abeba — Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called for greater regional cooperation to safeguard the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, warning that terrorist threats in these vital maritime zones pose a danger to global security.

In an article published by Asharq Al-Awsat, the president said that terrorist groups such as Al-Shabaab, ISIS, and the Houthis are increasingly collaborating across borders, exchanging weapons and intelligence.

“The terrorists intend to take control of vital maritime waters,” President Hassan Sheikh wrote, stating recent battles fought by Somali forces in the Cal Miskaad and Golis Mountain ranges near the Gulf of Aden.

He claimed that Somalia’s intelligence had intercepted arms shipments from Yemen and uncovered links between the Houthis and Al-Shabaab and sounded the alarm over growing terrorist collaboration in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. In a pointed message, he revealed that groups such as Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, ISIS, and the Houthis are “secretly collaborating and coordinating their roles” to destabilize the region.

The President mentioned Somalia’s partnership with Saudi Arabia and its commitment to regional alliances, and declared that the fight against extremism is not just Somalia’s struggle, but a shared responsibility among Red Sea and Gulf states. “Rooting out terrorist groups from these waters will shape our collective security and economic future,” he said.

Referring to Somalia’s support for Saudi Arabia in “countering” the Houthis group in Yemen he said Somalia “stood with our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from day one.”

In December last year, Dr. Abdi Zenebe, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA), said that the Ankara Declaration signed between Ethiopia and Somalia would bring multiple benefits both to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.

He also said that the “through this agreement with Mogadishu, now Ethiopia will not only [be] limited to have access toward the Red Sea, but also to Indian Ocean, (Western Indian Ocean); to the Gulf of Aden,” and that it was a “transcendental matter” that sees Ethiopia “from talking about the border areas and regions” to “discussing about rimland across the Indian Ocean.”