​​​​​​​MOGADISHU, Somalia

Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre led a high-level government delegation Saturday to the city of LasAnod, the capital of SSC Khatumo state.

Barre was welcomed by senior officials from the regional administration including the president of the region. Abdikhadir Ahmed Aw-Ali, known as Fardiye, and citizens.

He is expected to hold talks with regional officials, civil societies and women organizations on issues of national unity and peace in the region during his visit, according to officials who are part of the delegation who spoke to Anadolu.

Somali government spokesman Farhan Jim’ale called the premier’s visit a “national peace and unity trip.”

Barre’s visit is the first visit by a prime minister in more than 40 years.

LasAnod is a city in the northeastern region of Sool, 933 kilometers (579 miles) from the national capital of Mogadishu.

The city is where President Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke was gunned down by one of his bodyguards while on a visit in 1969.

The region has been a flashpoint between the Khatumo regional administration, which is a unionist, and the breakaway region of Somaliland forces.

Hundreds were killed and wounded during months of fighting in 2023.