Mogadishu (Sunatimes) Alleged militant leader, Mustaf Hassan Mohamed, speaks to the media on Tuesday in the capital, Mogadishu, where he was paraded by the Somali National Security Agency/Radio Mogadishu

Somalia’s National Security Agency (SNSA) has on Tuesday shown the media, an alleged militant leader who has recently surrendered to the Somali government.

Mustaf Hassan Mohamed, was paraded before a group of journalists at the agency’s headquarter in the capital, Mogadishu.

Mohamed is allegedly the leader of the militant group in KM 13, on the outskirt of the capital before he defected to the government side, where he sought amnesty.

Mohamed who spoke to the media thanked the Somali government for giving him amnesty after defecting from the rebel group, adding that he decided to abandon the outlawed group.

The Agency’s director Ahmed Hassan Fiqi said the government will always give amnesty to militia fighters once they renounce violence and surrender to the relevant government authorities.

The recent defection of the militant leaders comes a month after a group of six Al-Shabaab rebel fighters armed with light weapons surrendered to Ahlu Sunna administration in Garbaharey town, Gedo region.

Abdullahi Ahmed, one of the defectors said they opted to join the Ahlu Sunna group after realizing that they were part of a group who has no mercy for the Somali population.

He accused his former militia group of misinterpreting Islam and urged others still fighting for the militia group to be cautious of Al-Shabaab’s the wrong concepts aimed at fighting against the sovereignty and the integrity of Somalia.

Ahlu Sunna officials said they are welcoming the defection of young militia fighters who have been lured into the fighting after they were brainwashed by the militia.

On March this year, another group of twenty Al-Shabaab fighters surrendered to the Ahlu Sunna forces, supporting the Transitional Federal Somali government in the Gedo regions.

The defectors asked the local citizens to forgive them for the acts they could have committed when they served Al-Shabaab militia before the government’s allied forces ousted them from parts of the region.

Just four months ago, four other young Al-Shabaab fighters surrendered to the government and the African Union Peacekeeping forces in the capital, Mogadishu.

The African Union Peacekeeping forces spokesman, Paddy Akunda who received the Al-Shabaab defectors promised to welcome all Al-Shabaab defectors, adding that the Somali government has already set aside a center for rehabilitating the defectors.

For the last few months, the militia has suffered both leadership and financial crisis leading to mass defection of its fighters to the government side. The defections and the internal squabbling within the ranks of the militia have also weakened their military capability, forcing them to pull out of all positions in the capital after four years of occupation.