Former al-Shabab leader condemns Somalia attack

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A former leader of the al-Shabab extremist group who surrendered to Somalia’s government earlier this year has condemned Saturday’s bombing that killed more than 300 people.

Sheikh Mukhtar Robow called the deadliest-ever attack in Somalia an “irreligious” and “heartless” act. The truck bomb targeted a crowded street in Mogadishu.

Somalia’s government has blamed al-Shabab, which has yet to comment on the attack.

Robow’s surrender followed by a decision by the Trump administration, which removed him from the “most wanted list” of terrorist suspects run by the State Department’s “Rewards for Justice” program in June.