Al Shabaab militants attack Somali army base, says dozens dead

Government officials and military officers were tight lipped on the number of Kenyan soldiers killed or who went missing during the attack described as the worst since Kenya sent its troops to the neighbouring country to fight the Al Shabaab insurgency. On 17 January, Al-Shabaab’s Radio Andalus broadcast the voices of two alleged Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers captured in the attack.

He urged Kenyans to remember the affected families in their prayers and stay as brothers, noting that soldiers who lost their lives left behind their families and sacrificed their lives to protect every Kenyan citizen.

Shebab spokesman Shebab spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Musab claimed to have killed 63 Kenyan troops in the pre-dawn attack, but this could not be immediately verified.

The militants say the attacks are retaliation for the Kenyan military presence in Somalia and “war crimes” committed by Kenyan troops.

“We will fight them deep in their hideouts, smoke them out of the caves, follow them to the end in honour of every drop of blood of fellow Kenyans”, said he.

Despite being pushed out of Somalias major towns, al-Shabab continues to launch deadly guerrilla attacks across the Horn of Africa country.

The military camp which the attacker attacked is located about 550 km from the Kenyan border in Mogadishu’s south west Ceel Cedo district.

Kenya said Sunday it was leading a search-and-rescue mission in southwest Somalia after al-Shabab seized an African Union Mission in Somalia base.

“AMISOM is in Somalia to resurrect stability and help the Somali people and its government in attaining and establishing a secure and harmonic nation.” said Prime Minister Sharmarke.

“The spate of extra-judicial killings carried out by the Kenyan authorities against Muslim leaders and scholars in Kenya, the systematic detention and harassment of innocent Muslims and the recent discovery of mass graves in Mandhera are all indicative”, the statement added. President Uhuru Kenyatta confirmed on Friday that some soldiers had been killed in the attack, which involved suicide vehicle bombs and gunmen.