Kenya’s President Says Troops Killed by Somali Extremists

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday said that Kenya remains unbowed following the daring attacks staged by Al-Shabaab militants last Friday on a Kenya Defence Force (KDF) base in El-Adde in Somalia.

In a statement, Al-Shabab claimed they had killed more than 63 Kenyan “crusaders”.

Kenyan Defense Secretary Raychelle Omamo told reporters Sunday that there is an ongoing search, rescue and recovery operation in the area where the attack happened.

Kenya said a search and rescue operation was underway in Somalia on Sunday as Al-Qaeda-linked militants claimed to have killed over 100 Kenyan soldiers in Friday’s attack on an African Union base.

The African Union’s AMISOM force, which includes Kenyans, along with Somali troops have driven al Shabaab from major strongholds in Somalia in a wave of offensives.

Kenya has provided a major contingent to the AU force which is fighting al-Shabab and assisting the elected government of Somalia.

Al-Shabab had already done this twice before – first in Leego town on June 25 in which 54 Burundians were killed, and again on September 1 when 19 Ugandan troops were killed.

“This attack will not rest unanswered”, she said.

General Samson Mwathethe, chief of the defence forces, said Friday’s attack struck the Somali National Army base and an AMISOM base that was located in the same place, near El Adde, a town in the southwestern Gedo region.

“These attacks show AU troops are not forging relationship with locals”, he said.

The militants say the attacks are retaliation for the Kenyan military presence in Somalia and “war crimes” committed by Kenyan troops. In the U.S. military, a company has 100 to 200 soldiers, according to the U.S. Army’s website.

“This audacious attack – the largest single attack against the Kenyan military inside Somalia – comes as a response to the aggressive Kenyan invasion of Muslim lands and the Kenyan military’s continued persecution of innocent Muslims, particularly in the North East and the Coastal regions”, it said.

Al-Shabaab says it killed about 100 Kenyans and seized armaments and military vehicles.