MOGADISHU, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The Somali government confirmed on Tuesday that two Al-Shabaab military commanders defected and surrendered to Somali forces in the past week.
Minister of Information Abdirahman Omar Osman said Bishar Farah Mumin had surrendered on May 31 in Hiraan region in south-central part of the country.
Mumin had been a commander in Al-Shabaab's military wing, Jabha, in Hiraan, Galgaduud and Mudug regions.
Oman said Sheikh Cabdullahi Sheikh Cabdi defected in Kismayo on Saturday and had been the shadow District Commissioner of Jamame in Lower Jubba, southern Somalia.
"Disaffected leaders from different places and who had different roles within Al-Shabaab are defecting from the terrorist group in this, the Holy Month of Ramadan. So are many, many foot-soldiers," he said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
"The government offers amnesty to anyone trapped inside Al-Shabaab as long as they reject the group's alien ideology, renounce violence and agree to cooperate in the reconstruction of Somalia," the minister added.
Mumin is the first high member of the al-Qaida linked terror group, Al-Shabaab, to have defected since early April, when the government offered a two-month amnesty to members of the extremist group.
