Kenyan army kills 15 al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia

By Andrew Wasike and Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya

Fifteen al-Shabaab terrorists were killed and many injured in an ambush attack by security forces in Somalia, the Kenyan military has announced.

The Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) spokesman Col. Joseph Owuoth said in a statement late Monday that Kenyan soldiers working under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) ambushed an al-Shabaab terrorist camp 100 kilometers from the border town of El Wak, in the Gedo region of Somalia.

“The KDF AMISOM detachment from a nearby location engaged the terrorists using artillery and mortar fire and successfully destroyed the terrorists’ camp,” Kenya Defense Forces spokesman Owuoth said in a statement.

“Approximately 15 terrorists were neutralized, many more were injured and one technical (vehicle modified for combat) destroyed,” Owuoth added.

The operation comes just two days after Kenyan soldiers killed a top al-Shabaab commander -- Bashe Nure Hassan -- in Somalia.

Over 20,000 troops are stationed in Somalia as part of the African Union Mission fighting the al-Shabaab movement, which was created at the beginning of 2004.