Somalia confirms arrest of Al-Shabaab commander

Somalia has confirmed the arrest of a top Al-Shabaab commander who had a bounty of $3 million on his head, a police official said Sunday.

Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi was among the seven Al-Shabaab members on the US' list of wanted terrorists, Xinhua reported.

The official said that Hersi negotiated with the Somalian government, but he was arrested before it facilitated him to surrender to the force.

A member of the Somali security forces in Elwak, who arrested Hersi, confirmed they had never received any information related to the negotiations between the government and Hersi.

Instead, they got the information that an Al-Shabaab commander was in hiding in the region.

Al-shabaab responded to the news about the capture of Zakariye Hersi by denying his link with the group.

A statement from Al-Shabaab information office insisted that Hersi joined Al-Shabaab one time, but defected from the group 19 months ago and his surrender to the government doesn't mean any importance for the terror group.