Top military officers visit Kulbiyow camp after Al Shabaab attack

KDF soldiers receive the body of their colleague at Garissa airstrip. (Photo: Maarufu Mohamed/Standard)

Two senior military commanders visited Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) troops in Kulbiyow to boost their morale hours after an attack by Al Shabaab terrorists.

General Officer Commanding Eastern Command Maj Gen Benjamin Biwott and Amisom Sector 2 Commander Brig William Shume visited the troops in Kolbiyow, Somalia, after the troops had driven the attackers out of the area.

KDF spokesman Lt Col Paul Njuguna said personnel and equipment consolidation was effectively undertaken during the visit.

"Troops on the ground embarked on restoring the innovative tactical defence to address the threat posed by vehicle-bound explosive devices (VBIED)," he said.

KDF said nine soldiers were killed and 15 others injured when the terrorists used VBIED, guns and grenades to attack the camp, which is about 18km from the Kenya-Somalia border.

Most of the soldiers at the camp were about a month into the mission, having arrived in December.

This could be part of the reason why Al Shabaab targeted them using the same tactics they used in the El-Adde attack last year.

According to Lt Col Njuguna, KDF troops killed 70 terrorists in the clash.

On Saturday, Cabinet Secretary for Defence Raychelle Omamo, accompanied by Principal Secretary Kirimi Kaberia, Chief of the Defence Forces Gen Samson Mwathethe, service commanders and other senior military officers visited Defence Forces Memorial Hospital in Nairobi to comfort soldiers recuperating from the Kulbiyow incident.

Meanwhile, two policemen were killed when their vehicle was hit by an explosive in Hulugho along the Kenya-Somalia border.

Four others are admitted in hospital following the incident on Friday night.

The officers were responding to the Al Shabaab attack in Kulbiyow on Friday morning.