Renegade al-Shabab leader defects to Somalia government
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A renegade leader of Somalia’s Islamic extremist insurgents, al-Shabab, has surrendered to the government.
Mukhtar Robow was flown to Mogadishu Sunday from Hudur in southwestern Somalia, said Col. Adam Ahmed, a senior Somali police official. Robow was earlier airlifted from the Bakool jungle area where he and hundreds of his militia have been fighting al-Shabab since early last week.
Robow had fallen out with the al-Shabab leadership, which has been carrying out a purge of its ranks. The action against al-Shabab leaders was started by al-Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane who started to kill his rivals. Among those killed was the rapping American Jihadist, Omar Hammami and Ibrahim Afghani, one of the group’s founders and others. Godane was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2014.
Robow’s defection comes after the United States in June cancelled a $5 million reward offered for his capture. His surrender is the culmination of months of negotiations and it is believed the cancellation of the bounty for his capture helped convince Robow to give himself up to the Somalia government.