Kenya kills 34 Shabaab fighters, capture their commander

Kenya Defense Force soldiers have killed 13 more Al Shabaab militants in Somalia, bringing the total number of the militants killed to 34 since Saturday.

KDF Spokesman Colonel David Obonyo says KDF soldiers operating under Amisom troops engaged the militants at Sarira, in Lacta Belt, about 30km North of Ras Kamboni after being tipped off about a planned attack on the troops.

Colonel Obonyo also says they have managed to capture and detain a middle-level Al Shabaab Commander, and recovered 8 AK47 rifles, 2 PKM machine guns, 2 RPG and assorted ammunition.

In a statement, Obonyo confirmedno KDF soldier was injured during Sunday’s ambush.

This comes a day after 21 Al-Shabaab militants were killed by the troops after engaging KDF soldiers in a fierce gun battle in Lower Juba, in Somalia.

At least 21 Al Shabaab militants were killed and several others injured following an exchange of fire with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) in Somalia’s Afmadhow area.

In a statement to newsrooms and signed by KDF Public Affairs boss Col. David Obonyo, the Al Shabaab fighters laid an ambush on an Amisom convoy destroying a KDF vehicle after hurling Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to the convoy.

However, the KDF soldiers overpowered the militants killing 21 and recovered 19 AK47 assault rifles, three Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and a pistol.

KDF also suffered two fatalities and five injuries. The injured were evacuated and are receiving treatment.

The ambush on KDF by the Shabaab fighters comes barely five days after the Kenyan soldiers foiled an attack targeting their camp by the militants in the same area of Afmadhow.

Col. Obonyo said the terrorists were planning to stage attacks on AMISOM and Somali National Army camps in Afmadhow, Lower Juba Region but their mission was cut short by hawk-eyed Kenyan soldiers.

The Islamist fighters had approached the camp at around 1:00am Wednesday with intent to attack and cut off the Somali National Army from the KDF camp. KDF soldiers on patrol spotted the militants and engaged them in a fierce gun battle.

In a bid to boost security and peace in the war-torn Somalia, the Australian Navy, on March 7^th, 2016, operating in the Indian Ocean, seized a large arms cache believed to have been destined to Somalia to arm the Al Shabaab fighters.

The deadly arsenal that included nearly 2,000 AK-47 rifles and rocket propelled grenade launchers was found hidden in a smuggling vessel off the coast of Oman.

The Australian military said the naval ship HMAS-DARWIN was part of a multinational Anti-Terror Task Force deployed in the region. Naval officers discovered the arsenal hidden between fishing nets when they searched the stateless vessel about 313 kilometers off the coast of Oman.

Close to 90 assorted machine guns and 20 military mortar tubes were also found on the boat.