Al-Shabaab Desertions Increase in Southern Somalia

By Muhyadin Ahmed Roble
Jamestown Foundation
Friday, January 7, 2011
Disgruntled al-Shabaab fighters are increasingly deserting the radical Islamist group after years of fighting for the movement in southern Somalia. The deserters are mainly from southern Somalia’s Hawiye clan, while the movement’s current leader, Shaykh Ahmad Abdi Godane “Abu Zubayr,” hails from the Isaaq clan in Somaliland, a largely peaceful, de facto independent state in northern Somalia. Most of the absconders fled from southern Somalia to neighboring countries while others joined the troops of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

On December 19, 2010, the TFG presented six al-Shabaab deserters to reporters at a press conference in Mogadishu. The six, who defected to government forces on November 19, 2010, included a number of senior commanders who had led al-Shabaab fighters in clashes against Somali TFG forces and African Union peacekeepers.

The defectors told local reporters that they joined al-Shabaab with the intention of safeguarding the rule of law through the holy Qu’ran, but later realized that the group was not following the teachings of the Shari’a. They then defected to the side of the government and sought forgiveness from the Somali people. 
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