Several Hizbul Islam officials led by Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Islam (Madobe) have reportedly crossed the border into neighbouring Kenya, escaping the wrath of Al-Shabaab who ousted them out of Somalia's southern region of Lower Jubba, sources said.

Reports said the fleeing officials held meetings with top Kenyan security officials at the border between the two countries, where the Hizbul Islam officials were reportedly allowed to cross the border and are currently in the capital Nairobi.

The overwhelmed Hizbul Islam militia have laid their arms and joined hundreds of fleeing civilians, who have crossed the border into the UN-managed refugee camps in northeastern Kenya, the report added.

Other reports said that several Hizbul Islam officials and fighters, who were wounded in heavy clashes with Al-Shabaab, are receiving medical treatments in a hospital in northeastern Kenyan town of Garissa.

Hizbul Islam group received its worst blow recent days after they were ousted from Afmadow and Dobley, a southern Somali towns strategically located between Kenya and Somalia.

This come as Kenyan Defence minister Yussuf Haji declares that his country is ready for any Al-Shabaab offensives along the border, adding that security forces have been deployed to the border.

Meanwhile, Hizbul Islam's second in command Sheikh Hassan Abdullahi Al-Turki who also head his own Raskamboni Brigade which control large parts of southern Somalia, has held talks with Al-Shabaab officials in the outskirts of Dobley.

Confidential sources told Garowe Online that the meeting was focused on deteriorating security of the region with Sheikh Turki urging Al-Shabaab to withdraw all its forces from the region.

However, Al-Shabaab officials have reportedly snubbed his call and a similar meeting was scheduled for later date.

"Sheikh Hassan Turki is a respected official among the Mujahidins, we have met him but we can't reveal the outcome of our meeting," said Sheikh Hassan Yaqub, an Al-Shabaab representative in Somalia's Lower Jubba region.

The two groups, which have large presences in southern Somali regions, have been engaged in deadly warfare that is threatening the stability of the regions.