Kenya steps up search, recovery operation after attack in Somalia

Kenya's military said Sunday its soldiers serving at the Africa Union mandate in Somalia have embarked on search, rescue and recovery operation which he termed as a dedicate exercise after Friday's bloody attack.

The Chief of Defence Forces Samson Mwathethe who received four injured Kenya Defence Force (KDF) soldiers of the dawn attack at military base in El-Adde in Gedo region also declared relentless war against terrorism, adding that KDF is currently engaging Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia.

"However, it should be noted that this is a delicate operation as we have information to the effect that some soldiers are being used as human shield, as we will not allow any further casualties," Mwathethe told journalists in Nairobi.

"As we speak now, our troops are engaging the terrorists and it's therefore imperative that we desist from divulging details that might compromise the operational security. However, we will keep Kenyans updated as events unfold," he added.

Three of the four wounded soldiers who arrived in the country could walk unaided while the fourth had to be carried on a wheel chair to a waiting ambulance as he had severe injuries from the waist downwards.

Mwathethe said the Islamist militants were now evolving and competing for space, a move he said will not undermine KDF's operational and combat capability.

Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo asked Kenyans to be calm and let the government inform families of the fallen soldiers first before making the names public.

"Allow the families privacy as they mourn. Full details of those injured and killed will be made public after families affected are notified," Omamo said.

She said the soldiers who were airlifted for specialized treatment were critically injured. "Be patient, information will be availed to you. We are determined to bring our soldiers home."

Omamo said the government has established support facilities for the families of the fallen soldiers and those who were injured at the KDF barracks in Eldoret, Gilgil and Nairobi.

The remarks came as Al-Shabaab claimed on Sunday it had killed 100 Kenyan soldiers who were at the military camp in Friday's dawn attack and also captured some Kenyan soldiers alive.

They however did not say the number of the Kenyan troops they are holding hostage. However, the Kenyan government and AMISOM officials have disputed the figure, terming it propaganda. The militants usually inflate the number of casualties.

Omamo said more Kenyan soldiers alongside other regional ones serving under AMISOM will be deployed to the camp which is near Kenya-Somalia border.

She said the AU troops were combing the area for militants behind the ambush, which has been described as the worst against the KDF since their incursion into Somalia in 2011.

Mwathethe said Al-Shabaab raided the camp in three vehicles loaded with explosives, noting that the KDF priority is pursuing the attackers behind the Friday ambush.

"KDF's priority as is our norm in military operations was to degrade the enemy which we have already done through a concerted effort of both land and air assets in the last 48 hours," Mwathethe said.

He warned that the blood of KDF's fallen heroes was not shed in vain and vowed to pursue the militants behind the attack.

"We will fight them deep in their hideouts. We will smoke them out of their caves and we will follow to the end in honour of every drop of blood of our Kenyans," Mwathethe vowed.

Kenya has more than 4,000 troops in the 22,000-strong AU force in Somalia helping the UN-backed government battle Al-Shabaab, which is part of the Al-Qaida allied terror network.

Al-Shabaab has however, vowed reprisal attacks in the country, mainly targeting security forces in border towns of northern Kenya where dozens of people have been killed in landmine and grenade attacks blamed on the militant group.

The militants have said it views the presence of Kenyan troops in southern Somalia as an act of war and is now vowing an all-out war in Kenya, in protest against the military incursion " against our brothers in Somalia." Enditem