Kenya president says his troops killed by Somali extremists

Born as an offshoot from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), the al-Shabaab group, which in Arabic means “youth”, has been seeking to overthrow the Western-backed Somalian government and impose a strict form of Islamic sharia law.

In September 2015, Shebab fighters stormed a Ugandan AMISOM base in Janale district, 80 kilometres (50 miles) southwest of Mogadishu in the Lower Shabelle region.

But he said “we will not be cowed” by the attack, which al Shabaab said was to drive Kenyans and others out of Somalia.

“At the moment the camp is in the hands of al-Shabaab”.

Al-Shabab spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Mudan said on the group’s online radio that at least 63 soldiers were killed in the attack.

“(Kenyan) troops under (African Union auspices) counter-attacked…

Somalia-based Islamist militant group al-Shabab claims to have killed over 60 Kenyan soldiers during a brazen attack on an African Union (AU) peacekeeping base in the war-torn country on Friday.

The African Union Mission in Somalia, known as Amisom, said on Twitter that “Amisom can confirm that there was an attack on our troops in El-Adde”, but it did not provide further details.

The gates of the base were rammed by a suicide bomber in a vehicle before fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic insurgency overran the facility, sending its residents fleeing.

Amisom said at the time it was verifying the number of casualties.

“KDF will provide more information on the incident once it becomes available”, he added.

Despite Somalian forces driving the Islamists out of the capital, Mogadishu, in 2011, the group has continued to carry out deadly gun and bomb attacks across the nation.

Gedo Region’s military commander, Abdirazak Hussein, said there were many casualties between the two parties.

“After that they exchanged heavy gunfire with the forces inside the base”.

Al Shabab frequently exaggerates the number of troops they kill, while Amisom rarely gives exact tolls.