US military may get access to strategic Somaliland port, airfield
The US has a military base in neighboring Djibouti, a geopolitical choke point. Access to Somaliland’s port and airfield at Berbera would strengthen the American position, while also thwarting Russian attempts to extend its influence in the Horn of Africa.
By Jevans Nyabiage for South China Morning Post, 18 May, 2022
Top Pentagon officials visited Hargeisa last week, and toured the newly renovated port and airport at Berbera. President Joe Biden on Monday signed an order to redeploy troops to Somalia, where al-Shabab has been waging a deadly insurgency.
The US military could gain access to the self-declared state of Somaliland’s strategically positioned port and airfield at Berbera, to counter the Islamic extremist rebel group al-Shabab in Somalia.
This is after US President Joe Biden signed an order on Monday to redeploy hundreds of American troops to Somalia, days after top Pentagon officials visited the Somaliland capital Hargeisa and met President Muse Bihi Abdi.
MORE >> US military in Somaliland.