Kenya denies al-Shabaab report of soldiers killed in raid

There were conflicting reports over the number of deaths following heavy fighting between Kenyan troops and Al Shabaab militants on Thursday night.

The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) maintained that only one of their soldier had died following the fighting but Al Shabaab claimed they had killed eleven Kenyan troops and damaged three armoured personnel carriers belonging to KDF during the fighting in the Somali town of Beles Qooqani.

“On 29 Dec 2011 at 1900hrs, in Tabda area of Beles Qooqani, KDF soldiers raided an Al Shabaab position killing five Al Shabaab and many suspected wounded,’ read a statement released by the Kenya Military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir on Friday.

“Following the raid one of our soldiers got critically injured and succumbed to his injuries. Four are receiving medical attention on the ground,” Major Chirchir added.

But a website frequently used by the militants claimed that they had killed eleven Kenyan soldiers during a Thursday evening ambush on a Kenyan Defence Forces convoy near Beles Qooqani.

“At 16:30h HSM fighters ambushed a KDF convoy of 8 near Qoqani, Lower Jubba, inflicting another devastating blow to the weak Kenyan infantry" the website claimed.

It claimed that the militants had laid an ambush on the Kenyan troops by exploding an improvised explosive device (IED) on an armoured personnel carrier belonging to the KDF.

This, the militants claimed, forced the Kenyan soldiers to stop in order to survey the damage. It is at this point that the Al Shabaab sprayed them with bullets, killing 11 KDF soldiers.

“Ambush began with IED attack that tore down KDF APC. Upon stopping to survey the damage, a hail of bullets waylaid the inexperienced boys,” the website claimed.

“Field commander confirms 3 APC burnt down and 11 KDF soldiers dead, including a high ranking official - bringing KDF deaths to 20 in 10 days,” the website further claimed.

But in a quick rejoinder, Major Chirchir termed the website an Al Shabaab propaganda tool.

“That is Al Shabaab propaganda. What happened is that we attacked an Al Shabaab base in Qooqani and unfortunately, lost one soldier in the exchange. We did not lose eight men as they claim,” he said.

The Nation could not independently establish the reports from both sides.