Sudanese military team conducts training program in central Somalia

Africa Intelligence has reported that a team of Sudanese military personnel conducted a training program in central Somalia over recent months, targeting approximately 1,000 recruits in the Galmudug state. The initiative reportedly took place without any official public announcement, amid ongoing political tensions between Somalia’s federal government and several federal member states.

According to the report, the training mission was overseen by intelligence services in Mogadishu under the leadership of Mahad Mohamed Salad, Director of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA). However, the ultimate destination of the trained recruits remains unclear. It is not known whether they will be integrated into formal security units or deployed as auxiliary forces aligned with Somalia’s internal security and political dynamics. The report did not provide confirmed details regarding the duration of the training, the funding and logistical arrangements supporting the mission.

A confidential contract cited in the report indicates that Brigadier General Omar Al-Siddiq Ibrahim Mohamed led the Sudanese detachment. He was assisted by Colonels Magdi Ibrahim Mohamed Madawi and Musab Suleiman Abdullah Suleiman, as well as Lieutenant Colonels Al-Khatim Abdullah Mohamed Ali Mahmoud and Rabie Al-Zein Ali Al-Amin. The six officers and nine non-commissioned officers were reportedly hired on one-year renewable contracts signed in Adado in February 2025, with monthly salaries ranging between $1,000 and $2,000.

Training reportedly began in December 2024 at the Adado camp, where 973 recruits underwent instruction. An additional 432 recruits completed intensive drills in Guriceel, second largest city in the central Galguduud region, before joining the main force. The operation was overseen by NISA’s military training department and formally authorized by Mohamed Mursal Abdullahi, who was serving at the time as Director of Administrative and Financial Affairs.

Notably, Salad returned to lead NISA in mid-2025 following cabinet approval of his appointment on June 1, 2025. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud presided over the official handover ceremony at the agency’s headquarters in Mogadishu on June 14 of the same year. Africa Intelligence reports noted that the contract came into effect during the tenure of former NISA chief Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbaloolshe, who served twice as head of the agency.

The reported training mission intersects with publicly acknowledged security contacts between Mogadishu and Khartoum. In August 2025, President Mohamud received a delegation from Sudanese intelligence services at the presidential palace, with NISA’s director in attendance. According to official statements, discussions focused on strengthening bilateral security cooperation.

The reported Sudanese-led training program in Galmudug comes at a time when a growing body of evidence suggests that Somalia has increasingly been drawn into regional security dynamics linked to Sudan, including allegations that it has served as a transit hub for weapons transfers and mercenary deployments. Some reports have highlighted the role of the United Arab Emirates in maintaining a logistical footprint in Somalia, particularly in Bosaso port in Puntland, where Abu Dhabi is reported to operate a base and maintain an operational presence. Such infrastructure has been associated in various reports with the transfer of military materiel and the movement of contracted fighters across the Horn of Africa and beyond.

Against this backdrop, the unannounced training of recruits in central Somalia raises broader questions about overlapping external security agendas, the potential layering of influence by multiple foreign actors, and the implications for Somalia’s already fragmented security architecture.

To date, neither the Somalia nor Sudanese governments have issued public statements directly addressing media reports of an unannounced training mission in Galmudug. In a country where multiple security formations coexist and where the division of authority between the federal government and member states remains contested, undisclosed training initiatives often prompt questions regarding command structures, sources of armament, mechanisms of integration and accountability, and their potential impact on local security balances.