[ShabelleMedia] A senior al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...commander reportedly surrendered to the Ottoman Turkish-trained military elite — Gorgor based in the Harardhere district of Mudug region.
Abdirahman Hiiti Ibrahim, (Abu Abdirahman) was in charge of al-Shabaab’s operations in the Nurdugle and Gulane areas in the Middle Shabelle region, south of Somalia.
"Abdirahman said he defected after facing a difficult situation within al-Shabaab holy warriors who are fighting each other now," said the country’s military command in a statement.
The defector who did not disclose the department he was in charge of, indicated that he has been a member of al-Shabaab for 7 years and took part in many battles in Somalia.
The latest surrender coincides with the recent increase in the number of al-Shabaab members defecting to the Somali government following an amnesty offer by the president.
The Somali government claimed it has gained ground in its war with al-Shabaab, mainly in central Somalia since the launch of an all-out military offensive in August last year.
In conjunction with clan militias, the national army has dislodged al-Shabaab from nearly 100 areas in Galmudug
...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth...
and HirShabelle, marking a breakthrough in the fifteen-year war.