MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre on Saturday made a landmark visit to the town of Lasanod in the northern Sool region, receiving a jubilant welcome from hundreds of residents. The visit marked the first by a Somali leader of such high rank in more than three decades, underscoring Mogadishu’s renewed interest in asserting federal presence in contested northern territories.
The trip, long anticipated by local authorities, signals growing confidence among Lasanod leaders who seized control of the town and much of the Sool region from Somaliland forces in 2023. They are now pushing for formal recognition as a federal member state within Somalia’s federal system.
However, the move has drawn sharp rebuke from Puntland, the semi-autonomous northeastern region that has had longstanding disputes with the federal government, and from Somaliland, the self-declared republic that has claimed the area since its unilateral secession from Somalia in 1991 — though it has yet to gain international recognition.
Barre’s visit is widely seen as a strategic bid to reaffirm his influence within the broader Daarood clan constituency, following waning support from key strongholds in Puntland and Jubaland, where his administration has faced political standoffs and even armed confrontations in recent months.
Rashid Abdi, a Horn of Africa analyst at Nairobi-based Sahan Research believes that this is about political optics and that Barre is signaling that he still remains a Daarood clan standard-bearer.
“Mogadishu is keen to re-trigger ‘sovereignty’ battle with Somaliland now for a wholes host of reason. Top is to foil or complicate any US move to deepen ties with Somaliland. Second, a new row with Somaliland rallies the nationalist base in southern Somalia and diverts attention from the mounting security and political crises in the south,” Abdi said.
“Villa Somalia is keen to use Laas Anood as staging post for its direct polls or 1P1V. Imposing electoral sovereignty in Laas Anood would show Mogadishu has reach and influence in the north.”
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