1st LD Writethru: Kenyan troops kill 19 Al-Shabaab militants in S. Somalia

Kenya's military troops serving under the Africa Union mandate in Somalia on Wednesday killed 19 Al-Shabaab militants who were planning to attack the military camps in Afmadhow in southern Somalia.

Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spokesman Col. David Obonyo said the troops recovered 10 rifles and three rocket propelled grenades and destroyed one technical vehicle.

"The Al-Shabaab terrorists had approached the camp at night with the intent to attack and cut off the Somalia National Army (SNA) camps in Ahmadhow in the Lower Juba region," Obonyo said in a statement released in Nairobi.

Obonyo said the KDF soldiers on patrol identified the militants and engaged them in a fierce battle in a foiled attack at the two military camps at 01:00 hrs.

"The Al-Shabaab attempted to fight back, but were swiftly repulsed by the KDF soldiers on patrol and those at the camp," he said.

The Kenyan soldiers last month said its troops killed a senior Al-Shabaab commander and over 30 other middle level commanders including an improvised explosive device (IED) expert in two major strikes carried out in the Horn of Africa nation.

The East African nation is currently engaged in the fight against the militia group in southern Somalia where it has been registering impressive gains and extending humanitarian assistance to the local population.

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". Endit