KDF kill 31 Al-Shabaab militants in raid

PHOTO:COURTESY

Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) killed 31 Al-Shabaab militants in a clash at Baadhere in Somalia on Sunday.

According to KDF, an unknown number of the militants were also injured in the incident and two of their vehicles destroyed.

KDF spokesman Col Joseph Owuoth said ground troops were supported by attack helicopters and artillery fire to raid two militants' bases located 17 kilometres from Sarira near Hola Wajeer.

"KDF successfully conducted a raid and destruction on two Al-Shabaab command and logistics bases in Baadhere District in Jubaland, Somalia," he said.

According to Col Owuoth, 11 AK 47 rifles, two machine guns, four Improvised Explosive Devices, communication equipment, several uniforms, a roll of detonating cable and 634 assorted bullets were recovered.

He said KDF soldiers would continue to relentlessly pursue the militants until their threat to Kenya's security was eliminated, and that the soldiers would continue supporting African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) operations to stabilise Somalia.

The killings come more than a month after KDF personnel killed 57 terrorists in Afmadhow area.

It comes two months after the troops were attacked at a camp in Kulbiyow that left dozens dead.

Besides Kenya, Al-Shabaab has attacked camps belonging to Uganda, Burundi and Ethiopia, with Uganda and Burundi occasioning massive causalities.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre's military regime, which ushered in more than two decades of anarchy and conflict in a country deeply divided along clan lines.

KDF went to Somalia in October 2011after the kidnapping of two Spanish women working for Doctors without Borders at the Dadaab refugee camp.

The abductions were carried out by the militants who Kenya's troops are fighting under Operation Linda Nchi.

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

Initially a team of about 2,000 troops had been engaged but the number doubled when Kenya joined UN's AMISOM.

The Kenyan military says there is no set exit date for the operation, and that the mission's success would be the crippling of Al-Shabaab's capacity.