51 Kenyan soldiers killed by ‘al-Shabab’

MOGADISHU: A spokesperson for extremist group al-Shabab said on Friday its fighters killed at least 51 Kenyan soldiers in an attack on a military base in Somalia. But Kenya denied it, saying ‘scores’ of the extremist fighters were killed instead when its soldiers repelled the assault.

Al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu-Musab said the extremists seized military vehicles during the early morning attack in Kulbiyow town in Lower Jubba region.

But Kenyan military spokesman PM Njuguna said in a statement that the “rumors” being spread by al-Shabab were false. Kenyan soldiers with the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia “fiercely engaged” the al-Shabab fighters who tried to penetrate the base with an explosives-laden vehicle, Njuguna said. A Somali military officer, Col. Ahmed Ali, said al-Shabab’s massive suicide car bomb allowed dozens of extremists with machine guns to overrun the Kenyan camp.

Ali disputed al-Shabab’s claim of killing at least 51 soldiers, saying the Kenyans fought back before retreating to a nearby area. He declined to give further details. Al Qaeda’s East African affiliate is fighting to impose a strict version of Islam in this Horn of Africa nation. It has lashed out with deadly attacks against countries like neighboring Kenya that contribute to the African Union mission.

In February 2016, Kenya tried to downplay a similar al-Shabab attack that Somalia’s president said killed at least 180 Kenyan soldiers. Kenya’s military spokesman denied the figure but refused to give an official death toll.

Thatattackwasconsideredthe bloodiest by al-Shabab militants to date. AP