HUDUR, Somalia - A top leader of Somalia's Al-Qaida-affiliated Al-Shabaab group has surrendered to government forces in Hudur, the regional capital of Bakol province on Sunday, Garowe Online reports.
The commander of Southwest state Police, Shine Moalim Nurow has confirmed the surrender of Mukhtar Robow Ali, known as "Abu Mansur", the former spokesman and deputy leader of Al Shabaab.
Senior Southwest state officials, including Ministers have escorted Robow from his base in Abal, about 18Km west of Hudur, after several days of intense self-defense battle against Al Shabaab militants that left at least 19 combatants dead.
Robow has defected from the militant group after falling out of favor with the late Al shabaab emir Ahmed Abdi Godane in 2013, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in September 1, 2014.
Last June, U.S. State Department has withdrawn its $5 million bounty on Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, that has been in place since 2012, following consultations with Somali government to facilitate his surrender.
Upon his arrival in Hudur, a government controlled town in Bakol region, Robow was received by Southwest President Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, and Somali defense Minister Abdirashid Abdullahi.
