Source – Africa Intelligence.
Embroiled in the Sudanese civil war, Abu Dhabi has established an airlift to supply the RSF with weapons and paramilitaries. Bosaso, in the northwest of Puntland, is a central link in this logistics operation. A cargo plane at Bosaso Airport, in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland, 22 November 2023. © Daniel Irungu/EPA/MaxPPP Residents of the port city of Bosaso are no longer surprised by the regular drone of jumbo jets overhead. Less than 10 years ago, the airport in this city of 700,000, strategically nestled on the shores of the Gulf of Aden in the Puntland region, was just a laterite runway. Modernised by the United Arab Emirates
Residents of the port city of Bosaso are no longer surprised by the regular drone of jumbo jets overhead. Less than 10 years ago, the airport in this city of 700,000, strategically nestled on the shores of the Gulf of Aden in the Puntland region, was just a laterite runway. Modernised by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it now handles a handful of international flights but this hardly justifies the constant comings and goings of Ilyushin IL-76 cargo planes.
The facility also houses several military hangars used by the powerful Gulf state. Abu Dhabi has been using them as its main logistics hub to carry out its ambitious airlift to Sudan since the start of the civil war, which began in April 2023
Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s (MbZ) administration has consistently denied supporting Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s (AKA Hemeti) Rapid Support Forces (RSF) who are fighting General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). But evidence of Emirati involvement is rife: Bulgarian and Chinese weapons held by the UAE military found in Darfur in the hands of the RSF (AI, 15/04/25); Colombian paramilitarites from Abu Dhabi alongside the locals; and the Emirati field hospital in Amdjarass, Chad, which receives alot of military equipment destined for Hemeti’s forces. By supporting the RSF in this way, Abu Dhabi is seeking to protect its investments in the country and guarantee its long-term supply of gold and agricultural commodities.
Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s (MbZ) administration has consistently denied supporting Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s (AKA Hemeti) Rapid Support Forces (RSF) who are fighting General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). But evidence of Emirati involvement is rife: Bulgarian and Chinese weapons held by the UAE military found in Darfur in the hands of the RSF (AI, 15/04/25); Colombian paramilitarites from Abu Dhabi alongside the locals; and the Emirati field hospital in Amdjarass, Chad, which receives alot of military equipment destined for Hemeti’s forces. By supporting the RSF in this way, Abu Dhabi is seeking to protect its investments in the country and guarantee its long-term supply of gold and agricultural commodities.
An ideal transit location
Bosaso’s 3.4km of tarmac is one of the centrepieces of this weighty support effort. The airport has become an ideal transit point both because of its strategic geographical location and because of the political proximity the UAE maintains with the Puntland authorities. The president of the semi- autonomous region, Said Abdullahi Deni, ensures they get the discretion they need (AI, 11/06/25)
Since January 2021, an Emirati company, Bosaso International Airport Co (BIAC), has been operating the civilian portion of the airport. BIAC is a subsidiary of Terminals Holding, a conglomerate with close ties to the ruling Abu Dhabi royal family. The sovereign wealth fund ADQ (Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding), chaired by Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan – brother and national security advisor to the the UAE President – is Terminals Holding’s majority shareholder. By virtue of these close links, the Emirati army was easily able to equip the airport with a military camp – accessible only to its soldiers – between 2023 and 2024. These hangars house the Emirati drones used in the operation against the Somali branch of Islamic State (AI, 26/03/25).
Protest in vain
The Puntland authorities are struggling to deny the existence of this military installation. They were forced to do so once again in early May when General Burhan sent a letter of protest to the Somali federal government, accusing it of turning a blind eye to the airlift from Bosaso. This was something of a shot in the dark, given that Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (HSM) has not exercised sovereignty over the Puntland region since March 2024.
The frequency of these cargo planes on the tarmac in Bosaso varies according to the phases of the Sudanese conflict, peaking at two or even three daily flights during the RSF offensive in early 2024. Most recently, in May 2025, traffic stabilised at 15 flights per month.
Controlled from the UAE, the flight schedules often tally identically with cargo airlines’ movements. Two companies are used particularly frequently: the Kyrgyz New Way Cargo Airlines and Gewan Airways. Gewan Airways, officially registered in Kyrgyzstan, has actually been owned since October 2024 by the Emirati holding company Gewan, itself a subsidiary of the NG9 Holding group. Based in Abu Dhabi, this trust belongs to Jordanian businessman Alaa Al Ali, who made his fortune in the tourism sector. He is linked to Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahyan, MbZ’s younger brother, who owns shares in NG9 through his conglomerate Ethmar International Holding (EIH). Gewan Airways has not responded to Africa Intelligence’s requests for comment.
Flight plans show that Gewan Airways cargo planes take off directly from United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF) bases. While they primarily use the military infrastructure at Al Reef, near Abu Dhabi International Airport, wide-body aircraft also depart from Al Dhafra, the emirate’s largest base, which also houses the French and American air forces. Once landed at Bosaso, some aircraft continue westward, with their transponders switched off, heading either to the Chadian capital N’Djamena, Libya, or directly to Nyala (Sudan), the RSF’s main operational centre in Darfur.
Spectacular drone strike
This airlift was indirectly documented in an investigation by the Colombian daily La Silla Vacía, which traced the route of several hundred paramilitaries from Colombia fighting in Darfur alongside the RSF. While they previously had to transit through Libya to enter Sudan, the fighters say the new transport route now requires them to stay in Bosaso – billeted in the military camp inside the airport – before reaching Nyala.
These men work for the Global Security Service Group (GSSG), a private security company based in the United Arab Emirates and headed by a former Colombian army colonel. Bosaso is not unfamiliar to them. Colombian paramilitaries provided training for the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) in October 2024, ahead of the offensive against Islamic State in Somalia. Acting as a regional force, the PMPF – 8,000 soldiers – was created by the UAE in 2010 and has been funded by them since.
Were Colombian paramilitaries among the victims of the spectacular SAF drone strike in Nyala, Darfur, on 3 May? Assisted by Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone operators, the Sudanese army targeted a plane preparing to take off from Nyala airport, carrying foreign fighters. The strike angered the RSF – and even more so the UAE – which retaliated by striking infrastructure in Port Sudan, where Burhan’s government is based, for six consecutive days. In the aftermath, the Sudanese government suggested – without providing any evidence – that the RSF strikes could have been launched from northern Somalia at the initiative of the UAE.
UAE’s unwavering support
In Bosaso, no one has any say in Emirati activities within the airport complex. Abu Dhabi has always maintained close ties with the Puntland region, ties that\ have been further strengthened since March 2024 and Puntland president Deni’s decision not to recognise Somali federal government sovereignty any longer. As head of the semi-autonomous region, he can count on the unwavering support of MbZ, for whom Bosaso also represents an economic interest, as the Emirati giant Dubai Port World has operated the port since 2017.
For his part, Deni aims to win the 2026 Somali presidential election, after several unsuccessful attempts. To do so, the Puntland president is building alliances with other Somali member states, foremost among them Jubaland, led by Ahmed Mohamed Islam, known as “Madobe” (AI, 11/06/25). The two men, who have been at odds for years, have recently become closer. A meeting took place in May at the initiative of the Emirati authorities. Reflecting the importance the United Arab Emirates has assumed in this rapprochement, the two Somali leaders did not meet in their own countries, but rather in Abu Dhabi.
