A secretive Saudi-funded military training programme in Somalia has emerged as a new flashpoint in the volatile Horn of Africa, amid allegations that thousands of Somali recruits are being prepared not for domestic security operations but for possible deployment to Sudan’s devastating civil war.
The revelations, reported by Somalia’s New Somalia newspaper and corroborated by Kenya’s People Daily, have intensified concerns over the growing internationalisation of the Sudan conflict and the potential implications for regional security.
According to the reports, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is financing and overseeing a large-scale military training programme in Somalia’s Galmudug State involving 5,107 recruits drawn from different parts of the country.
Approximately 2,000 of the recruits are said to have been enlisted from Puntland, while the remainder originate from other Somali regions.
The programme is being conducted under a defence and military cooperation agreement signed between Mogadishu and Riyadh on February 9 this year, although the full details of the pact have not been made public.
On June 29, a high-level Saudi military delegation reportedly visited two training camps in the Guriel area, underscoring what sources describe as Riyadh’s direct involvement in the initiative.
A Somali government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed the programme is under direct Saudi supervision and financing, with operational oversight provided by foreign military contractors from Romania, Ukraine, South Africa and Colombia. The first phase of the training is expected to last nine months.
The source further alleged that the recruits may not ultimately be integrated into the Somali National Army as officially anticipated. Instead, the force could be transferred to Port Sudan to reinforce the Sudanese Armed Forces and allied Islamist militias engaged in Sudan’s ongoing civil war.
Although these claims have not been independently verified, they have fuelled speculation over the true objective of the programme and prompted renewed scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s expanding security footprint in the Horn of Africa.
Local sources cited by the reports described heightened military activity around the Guriel training facilities, including increased aircraft movements at Guriel Airport coinciding with the arrival of recruits.
A Somali military officer reportedly associated with the programme questioned whether the force was being assembled for Somalia’s national security needs or for deployment beyond its borders.
If confirmed, such a move would represent a significant escalation in foreign involvement in Sudan’s conflict, raising serious legal, diplomatic and humanitarian concerns.
Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal civil war since April 2023, pitting the Sudanese Armed Forces against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The conflict has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with the United Nations estimating that about 34 million people—nearly two-thirds of Sudan’s population—require urgent humanitarian assistance. Millions have been displaced internally and across neighbouring countries, while famine, disease outbreaks and the collapse of public services continue to deepen human suffering.
The reports emerge at a particularly sensitive geopolitical moment. The United States is reportedly pushing within the United Nations Security Council against extending support for the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia beyond next year. Should the mission wind down, analysts warn that Somalia could face a renewed security vacuum, potentially creating opportunities for regional and international actors to expand their military influence.
Security experts say any covert transfer of Somali recruits into the Sudanese theatre would risk further destabilising the Horn of Africa, potentially drawing additional countries into an already complex conflict while undermining Somalia’s own efforts to rebuild its national security institutions.
At the time of publication, neither the Saudi Arabian government, the Federal Government of Somalia nor the Sudanese authorities had publicly responded to the allegations. The reported claims therefore remain unverified independently.
Nevertheless, the disclosures have sparked fresh debate over the transparency of bilateral defence agreements, the growing use of foreign military contractors in regional conflicts, and the widening geopolitical competition shaping security dynamics across the Horn of Africa.
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