Kenya Hosts Regional Workshop in Mombasa to Finalize Combined Anti-Piracy Task Force Framework

Kenya hosted a Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC) Regional Workshop on Operational Cooperation and Coordination at Sea in Mombasa from September 7-9, 2026, working to finalize the operational framework for a proposed Combined DCoC Task Force to counter the 2026 piracy surge in the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. The workshop, involving Working Group 3, reviewed the task force's proposed geographical scope, operational requirements, composition, and relationship to existing mechanisms like Combined Task Force 151 and EU NAVFOR's Operation Atalanta, ahead of recommendations going to the DCoC Steering Committee and the 9th DCoC/Jeddah Amendment High-Level Meeting. Nineteen signatory states — including Somalia — backed the task force proposal on August 13, 2026, after an extraordinary Steering Committee meeting on July 29; the force remains non-operational pending completion of this planning stage.