BOSASO, Somalia — The United Arab Emirates has carried out its first reported drone strike against Al-Shabaab militants in northern Somalia in nearly a year, security officials told AFP, in an operation in Puntland's Galgala mountain pass.

Source: AFP via Addis Standard

The officials said the strike took place on Tuesday at the Galgala pass in the Al-Madow mountain range, where Al-Shabaab maintains a presence. UAE drones flew reconnaissance missions on Monday and Tuesday after an explosive device planted by Al-Shabaab targeted Puntland forces, and then targeted four militants who were planting roadside bombs, wounding two of them, the officials told AFP.

Source: AFP via Addis Standard

Local paramilitary forces then moved in and killed the two wounded militants, the officials said. The drones were launched from Bosaso airport, where the UAE maintains a military base, and Puntland is expected to announce a new offensive against Al-Shabaab in the coming days, they added.

Source: AFP via Inside Somalia

1streported UAE drone strike in Somalia in nearly a year, since November 2025, officials told AFP
4militants targeted while planting roadside bombs, AFP via officials said
2militants wounded in the strike and then killed by local forces, officials said

Somalia has battled the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab insurgency for nearly two decades. The group has a significantly smaller presence in Puntland than in south-central Somalia, but has operated from the Al-Madow mountains for years, AFP reported.

Source: AFP via Addis Standard

The strike comes amid heightened political tensions in Somalia. The UAE is among several foreign countries involved in fighting the insurgency, but its relations with Somalia's federal government have deteriorated over Abu Dhabi's support for regional opposition groups, particularly in Somaliland, the self-declared independent region, AFP reported. Mogadishu had not commented on the reported strike.

Source: AFP via Addis Standard

The Somali Digest, reporting separately from Bosaso, said the strike was the first Emirati strike reported in northern Somalia since November 2025 and noted that it came nine months after Somalia's cabinet revoked its security and defence agreements with Abu Dhabi. It also reported that United States forces struck the same mountain range a day earlier — a claim AFP's account did not include.

Source: The Somali Digest