Four Al-Shabaab militants including top commander surrender to Somali army
A member of the Somali National Army during operations near Adan Yabaal town in Middle Shabelle region
Four Al-Shabaab members including a top-ranking militant have on Monday surrendered to the Somali government forces in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region.
The state-run media SONNA reported that the senior Al-Shabaab member, Moalim Hudeifa, was “the commander of the Khawarijite militias [in reference to Al-Shabaab] who were recently crushed in the Middle Shabelle region by the Somali National Forces.”
The Somali government has promised Al-Shabaab members who defect to the government with amnesty if they “change their ways and build a new future for themselves.”
SONNA said the Somali government has welcomed Hudeifa’s defection and urged other militants “to heed this call for amnesty and rehabilitation and gain the opportunity to be reintegrated back into a productive society that is forging ahead to a prosperous future.”
Meanwhile, eight Al-Shabaab militants were also apprehended by the Somali army as they were hiding in some pockets of the newly liberated areas, according to the same source.
The defection of the Al-Shabaab members comes amid a large military offensive by the Somali army with the support of local militias known as Macawiisley against the terror that has led to the liberation of vast territories in central and south Somalia.
