Somalia’s government said Monday it has torn up its agreements with the United Arab Emirates, a sweeping reset announced in Mogadishu that targets port cooperation and security arrangements after officials said they had evidence the Gulf state was working against Somalia’s sovereignty.
Meeting in the capital, the Cabinet said it canceled “all agreements signed with related government agencies, entities, and regional administrations” to protect “the nation’s unity, territorial integrity, and constitutional order.” In a statement, the government said the terminated deals covered cooperation tied to the ports of Berbera in Somaliland and Bosaso and Kismayo in federal Somalia—strategic facilities along sea lanes linking the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the wider Indian Ocean.
“This decision is in response to reports of strong evidence of serious steps being taken to undermine the sovereignty, national unity, and political independence of the country,” the Cabinet said.
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Ministers also revoked bilateral pacts with the UAE, including agreements on security and defense, and urged international partners to respect Somalia’s “constitutional order and territorial integrity.”
The move lands in the middle of Somalia’s long-running struggle to centralize authority after decades of conflict, during which the federal government has often clashed with regional administrations over control of territory, revenue, and foreign partnerships. Mogadishu has repeatedly objected to overseas deals struck directly with regional authorities, and Berbera is the most politically charged example because it sits in Somaliland, the self-declared republic that broke from Somalia in 1991 and operates as a de facto state.
That fault line also overlaps with the widening Somaliland recognition dispute, including Israel’s recent recognition of Somaliland, which further elevates the stakes around Berbera’s foreign partnerships—even if it is not the immediate trigger for the Somalia-UAE rupture.
The Cabinet’s action followed reports that the UAE had begun pulling military equipment and senior personnel from Somalia after Mogadishu banned flights and cargo aircraft from the Gulf state, citing a security breach involving unauthorized military aircraft entering Somali airspace.