Somalia and Sudan

How do Somalia and Sudan relate today?

Somalia backs Sudan's army-led government in its war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). On 13 August 2026 Somalia's new ambassador, Ahmed Jama Omar, presented his credentials to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Khartoum and said Somalia supported Sudan's "security, sovereignty and territorial integrity" (Dawan Africa, 13 August 2026).

On 4 October 2026 Burhan and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed the El Alamein Joint Declaration with Egypt and Eritrea. It backed Sudan's unity and rejected "parallel entities" there, and it backed Somalia's unity and rejected recognition of Somaliland (SUNA via AllAfrica, 5 October 2026).

Security ties are close. Sudan's intelligence chief, General Ahmed Ibrahim Mufaddal, visited Mogadishu in 2025 and again in August 2026 (Hiiraan Online, August 2025; Dawan Africa, 13 August 2026).

When did contact begin?

Sudan's first big role in Somali affairs came in 1964. Talks in Khartoum, mediated by President Ibrahim Abboud, produced a ceasefire in the Ethiopia–Somalia border war from 1 April 1964 (US Office of the Historian, FRUS 1964–68, vol. XXIV). See The 1964 Ethiopian–Somali border war.

Sudan and Libya were the only countries to keep a continued, if intermittent, diplomatic presence in Somalia through the years of war after 1991 (Al Jazeera, 28 May 2007).

Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Sudan to Somalia

• Fadil Aljsuli, Sudan's ambassador, attended the opening of Djibouti's embassy in Mogadishu on 14 December 2010 (Hiiraan Online, 14 December 2010).

Somalia to Sudan

• Mohamed Sheikh Isak, ambassador in Khartoum when the war began in April 2023 (Garowe Online, April 2023).
• Ahmed Jama Omar, ambassador since 13 August 2026 (Dawan Africa, 13 August 2026).

Who built the tie?

• Ibrahim Abboud, President of Sudan, mediated the 1964 Ethiopia–Somalia ceasefire (FRUS).
• Amr Moussa, Arab League secretary-general, mediated the first face-to-face talks between Somalia's transitional government and the Islamic Courts in Khartoum on 22 June 2006 (Al Jazeera/AFP, 23 June 2006).
• Ali Mohammed Ibrahim, a Muslim scholar, led the Islamic Courts delegation at Khartoum (Al Jazeera/AFP, 2006).
• Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan, hosted Hassan Sheikh on a state visit to Khartoum during his first term. They agreed a ministerial strategic cooperation council (Garowe Online).
• Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council, sent messages to Hassan Sheikh through his intelligence chief and signed the El Alamein declaration (Hiiraan Online, 2025; SUNA via AllAfrica, 2026).
• Ahmed Ibrahim Ali Mufaddal, Sudan's intelligence director, met Hassan Sheikh and Somalia's intelligence chief Mahad Mohamed Salad in Mogadishu in 2025 (Hiiraan Online, 2025).
• Mohamed Sheikh Isak, Somali ambassador, planned the 2023 evacuation of Somali students (Garowe Online, 2023).

What agreements have they signed?

• Khartoum ceasefire, March–April 1964 (Ethiopia–Somalia, Sudanese mediation) (FRUS).
• Khartoum agreement, 22 June 2006: Somalia's transitional government and the Islamic Courts recognised each other (Al Jazeera/AFP).
• Second-round communiqué, 2–4 September 2006, Khartoum: to rebuild a national army and police joining government, Islamic Courts and other forces (PA-X).
• Cooperation pact during Hassan Sheikh's state visit, first term: economy, trade, security, culture, education and governance (Garowe Online).
• El Alamein Joint Declaration, 4 October 2026 (SUNA via AllAfrica).

Which leaders have visited?

• 1964: Somali and Ethiopian delegations in Khartoum for Abboud's mediation (FRUS).
• June and September 2006: Somali government and Islamic Courts delegations in Khartoum (PA-X).
• 2012–2017: Hassan Sheikh on a state visit to Khartoum (Garowe Online).
• 2025 and August 2026: Sudan's intelligence chief in Mogadishu (Geeska, 18 September 2025; Dawan Africa, 2026).
• 4 October 2026: Burhan and Hassan Sheikh at El Alamein, Egypt (Al Jazeera, 5 October 2026).

How much do they trade?

Trade is small. In 2018 Sudan reported US$1.31 million of exports to Somalia, almost all cereals (US$1.26 million), and US$0.17 million of imports (UN Comtrade, Sudan reporter, 2018; by chapter). No later year is reported.

How much aid and money has gone in?

Sudan's main gift has been education. Sudan has offered hundreds of scholarships to Somali students (Garowe Online). In April 2023 estimates of Somalis in Sudan ranged from 3,000 to 7,000, many of them students; one, Hayat Aden, studied at Khartoum's International University of Africa (Garowe Online, April 2023). See Main universities.

The flow later reversed. Somalia's Ministry of Education gave scholarships to Sudanese students whose studies were cut short by the war, to study in Somali universities (Garowe Online).

What about security?

Sudan does not send troops to the AU mission. In August 2021 its foreign ministry welcomed the extension of AMISOM's mandate and called for training to build Somali security forces (Xinhua via The Independent, 21 August 2021). Since 2025 the two intelligence services have met to strengthen cooperation (Hiiraan Online, 2025). See Foreign forces in Somalia.

How does Sudan deal with Somaliland and the member states?

• Puntland: Middle East Eye reported on 31 October 2025 that cargo was offloaded at Bosaso airport and flown on to the RSF. On 5 November 2025 Somalia's defence minister, Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, told the Senate that "planes have flown from Bosaso, Somalia, to Chad, Niger, and even western Sudan" (Middle East Eye, 5 November 2025). Puntland denied involvement in Sudan's conflict (Dawan Africa).
• Sudan's intelligence chief carried a letter asking Mogadishu to stop transfers it linked to the UAE through Bosaso (Eastleigh Voice).
• Somaliland: Sudan signed the El Alamein declaration rejecting any recognition of Somaliland (SUNA via AllAfrica).

Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found. The Bosaso flights have been raised by Sudan with Mogadishu as a matter concerning Puntland and the UAE, which has denied supplying the RSF (Eastleigh Voice).

How many Somalis live in Sudan?

At the end of 2025 UNHCR counted 234 refugees and 163 asylum seekers from Somalia in Sudan (UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API). Somalia hosted 339 refugees and 108 asylum seekers from Sudan in 2025, up from none in 2022 (UNHCR API). In April and May 2023 Somalia evacuated students through Ethiopia; 148 Somalis, mostly students, landed in Mogadishu around 30 April (Africanews, 1 May 2023). Others were flown from Paloch to Juba by Somali businesspeople in South Sudan (Eye Radio, 27 April 2023).

Where does Sudan stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

• Both are members of the Arab League, which ran the 2006 Khartoum talks (PA-X).
• Sudan welcomed the 2021 extension of AMISOM (Xinhua via The Independent).

Related pages

• The 1964 Ethiopian–Somali border war
• Islamic Courts Union 2006
• Transitional governments, 2000 to 2012
• Main universities
• Foreign forces in Somalia
• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
• Said Abdullahi Deni