Kenya’s military said it killed 15 al-Shabaab insurgents in air strikes in a remote area near the Somalia border, a region where it has been battling extremist groups for almost five years.
A Spokesperson for the Kenya defence forces told news agencies on Sunday that the Kenya warplanes targeted Yantooy district of Lower Jubba province.
“We managed to kill 15 al-Shabaab militants and captured Yantooy, which the militants were using as a base. The capturing of the base is vital for our operation to facilitate the easy capture of Jilib, which is currently the remaining al-Shabaab headquarters in the lower Shebelle,” Col. David Obonyo, was quoted by the Anadolu news agency.
Al Shabaab, which seeks to overthrow the Western-backed Somali government and impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law, has frequently targeted neighbouring Kenya in recent years, saying it is retaliating for Kenya’s participation in an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.
In April, al-Shabaab militants raided a university in the northern Kenyan city of Garissa, killing nearly 150 students, and in September 2013 militants killed at least 67 people in an attack on Nairobi’s upmarket Westgate mall.
Horseed Media
Somalia: Kenya Air Raids ‘Kill 15 al-Shabaab Militants’
Published: October 26, 2015
