How KDF fought 10-hour battle to save ill-fated camp

First batch of bodies of KDF soldiers killed in an attack on their camp in Somalia arrive at Wilson airport on Monday night.

NAIROBI: Gallant survivors of the terror attack on Kenya Defence Forces camp in Somalia have pieced together a blowby-blow account of Friday’s deadly dawn attack. The 10-hour mission by the Al Shabaab terrorists – that started at the crack of dawn and was only degraded after 2pm - was fronted by three rows of suicide bombers, Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices and hardened Al Shabaab foot soldiers, which made it extremely difficult for the Kenyan peacekeepers to ward off the ambush.

The attack was carried out in three waves (a military term used to describe formation of troops) using heavy gunfire that breached one side of Kenyan camp, leaving dozens of soldiers dead and several others injured.