Senior Shebaab leader surrenders in Somalia
A leader with the Islamic extremist group al-Shabaab, who had a $3m
bounty on his head, surrendered in Somalia, a Somali intelligence
official said on Saturday.
Zakariya
Ismail Ahmed Hersi surrendered to Somali police in the Gedo region,
said the intelligence officer, who insisted on anonymity because he is
not authorised to speak to the press.
Hersi
may have surrendered because he fell out with those loyal to Ahmed Abdi
Godane, al-Shabaab's top leader who was killed in a US airstrike
earlier this year, the officer said.
Hersi
was one of eight top al-Shabaab officials whom the Obama administration
offered a total $33m in rewards for information leading to their
capture in 2012.
Despite suffering major losses such as losing
major cities, al-Shabaab remains a threat in Somalia and the East
African region. The group has carried out many terror attacks in Somalia
and some in neighbouring countries including Kenya, whose armies are
part of the African Union troops bolstering Somalia's weak UN- backed
government.
On
Christmas day, al-Shabaab launched an attack at the African Union base
in Mogadishu. Nine people died, including three African Union soldiers,
in the attack on the complex, which also houses UN offices and western
embassies. Al-Shabaab said the attack was aimed at a Christmas party and
was in retaliation for the killing of the group's leader Godane.
Al-Shabaab also claimed that 14 soldiers were killed, but the group often exaggerates the number of people it kills.
Al-Shabaab
is waging an Islamic insurgency against Somalia's government that is
attempting to rebuild the country after decades of conflict that was
sparked off by the 1991 ouster of dictator Siad Barre.
Source: news24
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