Top Al Shabaab commander surrenders to Kenyan security officials

Yussuf Maalim Noor aka Yussuf Nur Aden aka Fanah, An Al-Shabaab top commander, surrendered to Kenya security officials in Wajir County through clan elders in Wajir Tulo area on Saturday.
Mohamed Sheikh, a senior superintendent of police, confirmed the surrender of Maalim on phone saying he was alone and unarmed and collaborated in providing required information concerning his militia colleagues.

Maalim was the top commander for guerrilla warfare units and was an Amniyaat operative’s leader along the Kenya-Somali border.

The key commander was tasked with organising attacks and collecting information about Kenyan security agencies.

Yussuf Maalim Noor will be taken to Garissa Town, the headquarters of Garissa County, for debriefing by Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence service officials.
According to intelligence reports, Yussuf Maalim Noor is cooperating well with government officials and has provided critical information that help in Kenya’s war on terrorism.
On his part, Wajir County Commissioner Michael Ole Tialal urged other terrorists to follow suit and cooperate with the government since the nation is still faced with the problem of terrorism.
Recently there have been reports of the presence of armed men who are suspected to be Al-Shabaab militants in Tarbaj and Wajir East areas.

Last year in June 21 Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said that over 200 youth who had joined Al-Shabaab militia group had surrendered to the government.
Nkaissery said the Al-Shabaab recruits surrendered during the amnesty window announced by the government as a means of ending radicalisation in the county.
He also noted that the government was collecting intelligence in a bid to arrest the more than 30 terrorists who were injured during the foiled attack on a military base in Lamu in the same month.