Coalition Task Force (CTF) 150

One of the Combined Maritime Forces task forces based in Bahrain, CTF-150 runs maritime security and counter-terrorism operations across the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean, outside the Arabian Gulf. Its mandate centers on disrupting illicit trafficking, including narcotics, weapons, and charcoal smuggling that finances groups such as al-Shabaab, denying non-state actors the use of the sea. It is distinct from CTF-151, the dedicated counter-piracy force stood up in 2009; CTF-150 predates that split and remains the broad security force.