In recent years, the Somali coast has acquired increasing strategic importance as a principal route for smuggling weapons to the Houthis in Yemen, overtaking other transit pathways. The majority of intercepted arms shipments destined for the Houthis were found to have traversed the Somali coastline. Cooperation in arms transfers and smuggling has become the most significant dimension of the relationship between the Houthis and Somalia’s Al-Shabaab movement.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report issued on 24 July (1) exposed the depth of entanglement between the two groups, confirming the existence of a clandestine arms smuggling network linking them, along with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of these connections represents a serious threat to the security of the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.