The trio were said to be militant fighters attached to Hassan Yakub, a senior Al-Shabaab militant leader including two of his security details and his personal driver.

They also defected with a car allegedly used by their boss, Hassan Yakub.

Col. Mohamed Abdullahi, a senior TFG military official in Qoqani told Sunatimes that the defectors were warmly received and are now being held in the area police station.

Their defection comes a week after two other alleged Al-Shabaab militant leaders surrendered to government troops in the area.

One of the alleged defectors, Mohamoud Hajji Korane gave himself up together with two of his guards and a battle-wagon to the Somali forces in Qoqani town.

TFG officials in the area said the militant leaders surrendered after negotiating with the relevant government authorities in Qoqani town.

They were said to be in contact with the area government officials for a couple of days seeking amnesty before giving themselves up.

TFG has on several occasions in the past displayed alleged militant defectors joining their ranks, attributing this mass defection for their continuous provision of amnesty to militant defectors.