57 Kenyan soldiers dead as al-Shabab strikes army base

Al-Shabab militants may have sent no less than 57 Kenyan soldiers to their early graves following an attack on a remote military base in the southern part of Somalia.

Moments after the attack, the terror group claimed responsibility for the violence saying they killed dozens of Kenyan troops.

A spokesman for the armed group said on Friday that its fighters killed at least 57 Kenyans at the base in the town of Kulbiyow a day earlier.

“We are pursuing the Kenyan soldiers who ran away into the woods,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab’s military operation spokesman, told Reuters news agency about the attack near the Kenyan border.

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“Two mujahideen rammed suicide car bombs into the base in Kulbiyow town before storming it,” he said, adding that as well as counting 57 Kenyan bodies, the group seized vehicles and weapons.

However, the Kenyan army denied the casualty claims by al-Shabab saying they are false.

“Al-Shabab is known for propaganda, whatever they are saying about the attack is incorrect, including the number,” a Kenyan defence forces spokesman, Colonel Paul Njugunam, told Al Jazeera.

“As of now, we cannot say anything about what is happening on ground, but once the operation is over, we will have concrete details and numbers. However, it was a bad day for al-Shabab and we shall continue repulsing them.”

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