MOGADAISHU, Somalia – Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency [NISA] said it has successfully captured two Al-Shabab operatives during covert operations, Garowe Online reports.

NISA said in Twitter posts the operatives in the militant group's intelligence division [Amniyat] were arrested hiding in Elasha Biyaha, located in the outskirts of Mogadishu and the capital’s Shibis district.

The spy agency added that the militants who were in charge of the assassinations in the Somali capital are currently being held at NISA-run prison in Mogadishu, where they are undergoing an interrogation.

Last Tuesday, NISA announced a senior Al-Shabab commander, Aden Abdi, known as Aden Obe, defected from the group and surrendered to government forces in the country's southern Gedo region.

The surrender of Obe, an elderly man who served as Al-Shabab’s social affairs head came after he contacted NISA and asked to facilitate his defection, according to the Intelligence agency statement.

Somali forces backed by the African Union troops intensified operations on al-Shabab militants in central and southern Somalia conducting consecutive offensives to flush the militants out of these regions.

GAROWE ONLINE