 AMISOM announced in a press statement that it expects the total number of al-Shabaab defections in the area to reach 250 men.Since the start of Operation Indian Ocean in August 2014, over 700 al-Shabaab militants have surrendered to the Federal Government.On 27 December 2014, a Somali intelligence officer indicated that senior al-Shabaab commander Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi ("Zaki") surrendered to local police in the southwestern Gedo province.