NAIROBI
At least 89 militants from Al-Shabaab group, mostly foreign fighters, were killed in airstrikes in southern Somalia on Thursday, the Kenyan military said Friday.
Army spokesman Col. David Obonyo told The Anadolu Agency that two Kenyan jet fighters had pounded an Al-Shabaab military base in Araara, approximately 50 kilometer north of Kismayo city.
He said that the base was being used as a training camp for foreign fighters and an armory.
The nationalities of the foreign fighters are said to be British, Yemeni, Pakistani and Somalis. They were reportedly buried at a nearby plantation.
During Thursday's airstrikes, a Kenyan jet fighter crashed down.
"We regret that the aircraft crashed after a successful mission and has been set on fire by Al-Shabaab militia," Obonyo said.
On Thursday, the militant group claimed that its fighters had shot down the aircraft, a claim dismissed by the Kenyan military, which cited a "technical problem" for the crash.
The Thursday airstrikes were the latest attempt by Kenya to incapacitate Al-Shabaab following a spate of recent attacks inside the country that left over 60 people dead.
Last week, Kenya said its jet fighters had killed over 100 Al-Shabaab militants in response to the reported murder of 28 people by the Somalia-based group in Kenya's northeastern Mandera County.
On Tuesday, 36 quarry workers were killed – also in Mandera – in another attack likewise claimed by Al-Shabaab.
www.aa.com.tr/en
