Kenya forces kill 11 Shabab militants
The Kenyan army has killed at least 11 militants from the Somalia-based Takfiri al-Shabab during a cross-border shoot-out in the troubled northeast of Kenya, a military spokesman says.
Colonel David Obonyo, a spokesman for the Kenya Defense Forces, said the shootout happened after al-Shabab militants launched attacks in Lamu County on Kenya's coast close to the border with Somalia on Sunday.
The 11 militants and two Kenyan soldiers lost their lives in the pre-dawn al-Shabab assault on a military camp in Baure.
Kenyan security forces also seized a large amount of ammunition and arms belonging to the militants.
In a separate shootout, local officials and residents said tens of militants briefly took over the nearby town of Mangai. Yusuf Nuri, a local official, said the gunmen also ransacked a dispensary and burned mattresses at a primary school before escaping. There was no report of death or injury.
Kenyan border regions have been hit by a surge in attacks by the al-Qaeda-linked Shabab militants.
In early April, the militant group launched a deadly attack against the Garissa University College campus, killing nearly 150 and injuring 79 others.
Al-Shabab has vowed to continue fatal cross-border raids until the government in Nairobi pulls its troops out of Somalia.
The Kenyan government sent over 3,000 soldiers to Somalia in late 2011, after the al-Shabab carried out a series of raids inside Kenya.
Somalia has been the scene of fierce fighting between al-Shabab militants and government forces since 2006.
The militant group has been pushed out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and other major cities in the country by the African Union Mission in Somalia. The al-Qaeda linked group has, however, continued to wage attacks in Mogadishu despite being ousted from its bases in the seaside city in 2011.
JR/KA/SS
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