Somali president: Attack killed at least 180 Kenyan soldiers

Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud; has said at least 180 Kenyan troops were killed in January, when Al Shabab attacked their base in the southern town of El Ade.

Responding to a question on the attack on the Kenyan military base in Somalia, Somalia’s president said: “When 180 and above or almost 200 boys (soldiers) who were sent to Somalia to pacify the country or help Somalis get peace were killed in one morning – that’s not a normal situation”.

“This is basically targeting the public and they want to send a message of fear, trying to tell Kenya that they have an upper hand in this war in Somalia and that the Kenyan military have no business in Somalia”, he said. Al-Shabab’s April 2 attack on Garissa University in Kenya, in which 148 people, majority students, died, had been considered the deadliest attack by the militant group.

Some Somalis accused Mohamud on social media of showing greater concern for the killing of Kenyans than his own nationals.

Kenya’s military spokesman denied the figures given by the Somali President but declined to give an official death toll.

“Ask the source of the information to clarify it. Maybe he knows his sources”, he said. “They ought to be treated with honour and respect”, Col Onyo added.

He had counted about 190 bodies, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility after the explosions, but the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab frequently targets government buildings, hotels and security forces in Mogadishu in its bid to overthrow the Western-backed government.

Al Shabaab has been driven out of major strongholds in Somalia by the African Union Mission and Somali army.