An Ex-Shabab Leader Surrenders in Somalia, Officials Say
After Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006, the Islamist group
that briefly controlled Somalia went underground, and Mr. Robow with it, orchestrating hit-and-run attacks on Ethiopian forces and Somalia’s weak government.
13, 2017
Abu Mansoor Mukhtar Robow, an elusive, charismatic militant who was once a senior commander of the Shabab in Somalia,
surrendered to government forces on Sunday in a surprise move that could weaken the country’s Islamist militants.
According to Somali security officials, hard-line elements within the Shabab — in which Mr. Robow had been a stalwart
before falling out in 2013 with its leader at the time — had turned against him, wiping out many of his soldiers.
For the past several months, Mr. Robow — who once had an American bounty on his head — had essentially
been on the run from his own group, setting up a base in Abal Village, in southwest Somalia.
Insurgent fighters banded together under the name Shabab, which was one of the Islamist factions in Somalia at the time.
Somalia said that We don’t have a problem with Americans,
