NAIROBI
The Kenyan army said Monday that its aircraft had struck two strongholds affiliated with the Al-Shabaab militant group in southern Somalia, killing over 80 of the group's fighters.
"Our air forces hit two towns located in the Lower Jubba region. The main aim of the airstrikes was to destroy Al-Shabaab's military capabilities," Kenya Defense Forces spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
The airstrikes, the spokesman said, had killed more than 80 Al-Shabaab militants in the two towns of Anole and Kuday.
"Thirty militants were killed in Anole and four vehicles loaded with ammunition destroyed. In Kuday, more than 50 militants were killed," he added.
The airstrikes were hailed by Mahamat Saleh Annadif, special representative of the chairperson of the African Union Commission.
"Our forces will relentlessly keep up the pressure on Al-Shabaab; we will employ all means at our disposal to end their reign of terror," Annadif said in a statement.
"We are here to work with the Somali forces to make life better for Somalia and her people. Fundamental to that is eliminating insurgents who have wrought havoc and misery on so many and for so long," Annadif added.
The Kenyan airstrikes come one week after Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for killing more than 60 people in attacks in Kenya's coastal town of Mpeketoni.
Al-Shabaab lost most of its strongholds after African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops were deployed to Somalia in 2007. But the militant group continues to carry out attacks on Somali government officials and foreign troops.
It has also claimed responsibility for a string of attacks in Kenya, which deployed troops to Somalia in 2011 following a series of kidnappings of foreign tourists – many of whom were eventually executed by Al-Shabaab – from the Kenyan coast.
One of the attacks it claimed was Nairobi's 2013 Westgate Mall siege, in which 67 people were killed.
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