"The opposition are bandits," Inda'ade told reporters. "We shall defend the Islamic government. They (opposition) do irreligious acts, and they kill innocent people."
Inda'ade's former group, Hizbul Islam, confirmed the defection but said it would not change anything. "(Inda'ade) and his troops have left us and joined the government ... but that will not affect us," said Hassan Mahdi, spokesman for the group.
Hizbul Islam is an umbrella opposition group including militant leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, seen as a powerful figure among insurgents. Aweys said Inda'ade had given most of his weapons to him before defecting.
The International Crisis Group think tank said Somalia's opposition groups had become deeply divided. "There is now a battle shaping up between reportedly moderate Muslims and the extremists, such as Al-Shabaab," it said.
On Friday and Saturday, fighting between Shabaab and a moderate Islamist group in two central towns killed some 68 people and sent 3,300 others fleeing from their homes, pro-government forces and a rights group said.
"We have killed 47 al Shabaab fighters including a white man in Mahas and Wabho," Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, spokesman of the moderate Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca, told Reuters, adding that three of their fighters had been killed.
The Mogadishu-based Elman Peace and Human Rights group said 18 civilians were killed in those clashes, and that 3,300 people had fled their homes. "Fighting continues non-stop in those areas," said Yasin Ali Gedi, vice chairman of the group. (Additional reporting by Mohamed Ahmed and Abdi Guled; writing by Jack Kimball; editing by Philippa Fletcher).
Is this dude for real?