MOGADISHU, May 30, 2025 – The United Nations has raised alarm over a deepening security threat in the Horn of Africa, warning of increased cooperation between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Somalia’s Al-Shabaab insurgents.
According to a report cited by The Washington Post, the Houthis have dispatched bomb-making experts to Jilib, a stronghold of Al-Shabaab in Somalia’s Middle Juba region, signaling a new and dangerous phase in regional militancy.
The report suggests that the two groups have strengthened their ties, coordinating the movement of weapons and fighters via the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean—routes increasingly monitored by U.S. naval forces deployed to counter Houthi expansionism.
Security analysts have cautioned that this emerging alliance could facilitate the transfer of advanced weaponry and bomb-making techniques, enhancing the operational capabilities of both groups.
“This kind of cooperation opens the door to the exchange of highly lethal technologies,” a former senior U.S. State Department official told The Washington Post, adding that Washington’s reduced presence in Somalia may have created a security vacuum that the militants are now exploiting.
There are growing fears that Al-Shabaab, emboldened by this new support, could stage attacks beyond Somalia’s borders, particularly in Kenya and Ethiopia, using weapons and explosives supplied by the Houthis.
Intelligence sources have warned that a potential withdrawal of U.S. troops from Somalia could seriously undermine years of progress in stabilizing the country and combating Al-Shabaab, which has waged an insurgency for more than 16 years.
