A senior Somali official speaking on condition of anonymity said Somali intelligence assessed that Israel had dispatched 50 soldiers to Somaliland following its recognition of the breakaway region's independence in December 2025, Middle East Eye reported on June 22. The official said Israeli soldiers dispatched to the territory were of African descent, mostly Ethiopian, with the goal of blending in with the local community.

On June 5, CNN reported on Israel's establishment of covert military sites in Somaliland. Officials from Somaliland and Israel have denied the presence of an Israeli military base in the territory, but Somaliland's Defense Minister Mohamed Yusuf Ali confirmed that Israel was "supporting [Somaliland] by training some of [its] police and military."