By Sheriff Bojang Jnr; The Africa Report

In June 2024, US intelligence uncovered discussions between Yemen’s Houthis and Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militants, signalling increased threats to East African stability. A February 2025 UN report confirmed representatives from both groups met at least twice in Somalia in July and September 2024 during the Red Sea crisis.

Experts say Ansar Allah (the Houthis) agreed to supply Al-Shabaab with arms and technical expertise in return for intensified piracy and ransom operations in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia’s coast.

Recent US airstrikes against the Houthis underline concerns over the group’s growing relationship with Al-Shabaab. Carnegie Endowment analysts warn this partnership aims to “strengthen and diversify supply chains, secure advanced weaponry, bolster domestic standing, and expand strategic options” for the Houthis and their main ally, Iran, potentially reshaping maritime security in the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait to their advantage.

Others believe the alliance could allow the Houthis to escalate attacks on commercial and military vessels operating in the Red Sea.

Omar Mahmood, a senior Eastern Africa analyst at the International Crisis Group, tells The Africa Report that Yemen is often the arms market for Somalia. He says this engagement could be aimed at establishing a more direct commercial relationship, facilitating the transfer of new types of weapons to Al-Shabaab.

Otherwise, he adds, it is difficult to see a more strategic partnership developing, given the different ideologies and geographies in which the two groups operate.

United in hostility towards US and Israel

Security analyst Liam Karr notes the Houthis and Al-Shabaab are unlikely partners due to stark sectarian differences and divergent military aims, limiting meaningful cooperation primarily to regional weapons-smuggling networks.

However, Karr adds, both groups have connections through the Axis of Resistance and Al-Qaeda networks, allowing for opportunistic cooperation driven by shared anti-American interests.

Despite ideological and regional differences, experts agree hostility towards the US and Israel unites the Houthis and Al-Shabaab.

Analyst Sakhri Mohamed wrote: “To understand Al-Shabaab’s relationship with the Houthis, it’s essential to consider broader Houthi–Al-Qaeda ties and Iran’s role in fostering their recent rapprochement.”

Mohamed argues Yemen’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has grown into the region’s strongest branch, enhancing incentives for cooperation based on mutual dependency rather than traditional ideological alignment.

He suggests two possible assumptions regarding Iran’s role, the first being Iran’s direct interest and active involvement in strengthening ties with Al-Shabaab, indirectly facilitating collaboration between Al-Shabaab and the Houthis.

Iran connection

Karr notes that indirect ties between the Houthis and Al-Shabaab exist through regional arms-smuggling networks. He points out Al-Shabaab already holds Iranian small arms originally destined for the Houthis and shares contacts within the Gulf of Aden smuggling routes.

A report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GITOC) confirms some Al-Shabaab weapons came directly from Iranian shipments intended for Yemen’s Houthis. However, this likely reflects profit-driven arms trafficking rather than deliberate Iranian or Houthi support for Al-Shabaab. The report identifies at least one Houthi official connected directly to a Somali smuggler who previously armed an ISIS affiliate active alongside Al-Shabaab in northern Somalia.

Intelligence indicates Iran supports Al-Shabaab financially and militarily, driven by shared anti-Western objectives. Tehran has supplied the group with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), mortars and bomb-making chemicals.

Source: The Africa Report