NAIROBI (Dispatches) -- The breakaway state of Somaliland has formally requested Israeli air defense systems to counter what officials in Hargeisa describe as an escalating Turkish military buildup in neighboring Somalia, deepening Israel’s contested footprint in the Horn of Africa.
Mohamed Osman Fadal, a senior foreign affairs advisor to Somaliland’s president, told Middle East Eye that the self-declared republic needs “air defense systems” to confront Turkish F-16 fighter jets stationed in Mogadishu and Ankara’s plans to construct a drone base in Somalia. 
“Turkey has F-16s in Mogadishu, and it wants to build a drone base in Somalia. We want Israel to support us against Turkey,” Fadal said.
The request follows Israel’s recognition of Somaliland in December 2025, making it the first entity which itself is illegal to formally accept the breakaway region as an independent state. 
Somaliland officials claimed that normalization with Israel was partly motivated by the need to check Turkey’s growing military presence in the region.
Turkish military expansion in Somalia has accelerated sharply. Three Turkish F-16 fighter jets landed at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu in late January, marking the first forward deployment of manned Turkish combat aircraft into Somalia. 
Ankara has also deployed armed drones and attack helicopters, and operates its largest overseas military base in Mogadishu.
Somaliland’s outreach to Israel has drawn fierce condemnation from Somalia and regional powers. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told Al Jazeera that Somalia “will not accept any Israeli presence under any circumstances,” revealing that the Zionist regime is seeking to establish a naval base in Berbera and use the city’s airport to gain proximity to the Persian Gulf.
Yemen has also vowed to target any Israeli presence in Somaliland, with Ansarullah leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi declaring that Yemen “will neither stand idly in the face of any Israeli presence in Somaliland, nor will it wait for those who fail to act”.
Analysts warn that Israel’s deepening security partnership with Somaliland risks transforming the Horn of Africa into a new theater for Middle Eastern proxy competition, with Turkey and Israel backing opposing sides in a dispute that Mogadishu and much of the international community regard as a violation of Somali sovereignty.