Somalia vows to step up fights to eliminate Al-Shabaab

Kenyan officials have not said how many soldiers were killed when Islamic extremist fighters attacked a base for African Union peacekeepers in southwestern Somalia on Friday. But al-Shabab said more than 100 Kenyan soldiers were killed, AFP reported.

Kenyatta has repeatedly said he would not be coerced into withdrawing Kenyan forces from Somalia, saying the troops are protecting Kenya. In the a year ago, the terrorist group has launched multiple guerrilla-style attacks on AMISOM bases to drive out foreign troops and impose its severe version of Islamic law throughout the region.

“I spoke to Uhuru Kenyatta this morning and I assured him of our support as we mourn the death of our soldiers in Somalia”, said Odinga.

Al Shabaab attacked an African Union base on Friday killing dozens of soldiers and capturing others who are reportedly being used as human shields.

The armed group, which has ties with al-Qaida, opposes Kenya’s military involvement in Somalia and describes Kenyan peacekeepers as invaders.

Raychelle Omamo, Cabinet Secretary for Defence, center, speaks to the media accompanied by Gen. Samson Mwathethe, Chief of Defence Forces, right, after four injured Kenyan soldiers were airlifted back to Nairobi for medical treatment, in Kenya Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. Hence Al Shabab are launching desperate last attempts to create instability ” said the Prime Minister in his conclusion. “We will fight them deep in their hideouts, we will smoke them out of their caves and we will follow to the end in honor of every drop of blood of our Kenyans”, he said in the Sunday statement.

However, both the Kenyan government and AMISOM officials have disputed the figure, terming it a propaganda.

Al Shabaab said the attack was in retaliation for the Kenyan “invasion of Muslim lands” and what it said was the army’s “persecution of innocent Muslims” inside Kenya, a reference to the government’s pursuit of suspected militants in the country.

“The troops are now fighting the terrorists to push them back”, Lt. Colonel Paul Njuguna the spokesman for the AU mission in Somalia told Al Jazeera English.