Somalia top Shabab member confirms defection, urges peace

A senior member of al-Shabab militant group in Somalia has confirmed his defection from the terrorist group, urging an end to the deadly clashes in the violence-wracked African country.

"I can confirm that as of today I am no longer a member of al-Shabab and I have renounced violence as a means of resolving conflict and I will aim to achieve my goals towards peaceful means, and through reconciliation and understanding," Zakariya Ismail Hersi told reporters on Tuesday.

Back in December 2014, Hersi, who was the intelligence chief of the terrorist group, reportedly surrendered himself to Somali security forces in the region of Gedo near the Kenyan border.

Commentators believe that Hersi was forced to give in after engaging in a conflict with forces loyal to Ahmed Abdi Godane, al-Shabab’s former leader. Godane was killed in a US airstrike on al-Shabab positions in September 2014.

In 2012, the administration of US President Barack Obama offered USD 3 million for any information conducive to Hersi’s arrest.

Somalia has been the scene of deadly clashes between government forces and al-Shabab militants since 2006.

The militants have been pushed out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and other major cities in the country by government forces and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is largely made up of troops from Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone, and Kenya.

FNR/MHB/AS

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