Three Kenya Defence Forces soldiers killed in ambush by Al Shabaab

Kenya Defence Forces launch artilley shells into Al-Shabaab hideouts in Fafadun, Somalia, during the fight to reclaim the port of Kismayu in 2012. [Photo: File/Standard]

Three Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers were killed and eight wounded in an ambush by Al-Shabaab militants in Delbio area, Somalia, military officials said.

The soldiers were on foot patrol when they were ambushed by gunmen on Saturday at about 10am at a place called Tabda.

The other soldiers engaged the gang before they retreated into a forest in the area.

“The three soldiers died while undergoing treatment while the rest are in stable condition,” said a military official who asked not to be named.

According to officials, the injured were later driven to Dadaab refugee camp, near Kenya-Somalia border and later flown to Nairobi.

The military chopper could not land in the area within Somalia because it was heavily raining, the officials said.

Efforts to trace the attackers are ongoing, the official said.

This is the latest attack, by the weakened terror group, targeting KDF and other Amisom troops in Somalia.

KDF went to Somalia in October 2011. Kenya's incursion into southern Somalia started after the kidnapping of two Spanish women, who were working for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) at the Dadaab refugee camp.

The abductions were carried out by the militants whom the troops planned to push away under the Operation Linda Nchi.

Two years later, the troops managed to take control of Kismayo port under Operation Sledge Hammer.

Initially a team of about 2,000 troops had been engaged in the operation but the number doubled when Kenya joined UN’s Amisom.

The Kenyan military says there is no set exit date for the troops, but the indicator of the mission's success would be a crippling of Al-Shabaab's capacity.

There is pressure from sections of Kenyans to withdraw the troops but officials say their mission in Somalia is not yet complete.

The militants have struck Kenya more than four times, demanding the withdrawal of the troops.