Somali and Kenyan military officials said the fighters had seized the Somali army base near the town of Ceel Cadde, about 550 km west of Mogadishu in a region near Kenya’s border.
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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said al-Shabab militants will pay a “heavy price” following an attack by the militants that killed dozens of Kenyan troops in southern Somalia last week.
“This is a very sombre moment for the Kenya Defence Forces – and I think for the country at large”, Omamo said, calling for “patience” as efforts to rescue remaining troops continued.
“This attack will not rest unanswered”, she said. A top Kenyan commander said on Sunday the army was conducting “search and rescue” operations without specifically saying if they were looking for captured soldiers. “We have all together contributed vitally to global peace and security”, he added.
According to Al shabaab spokesman, 100 Kenyan soldiers were killed in El Adde attack as unspecified number of KDF soldiers have been captured alive and held as prisoners of war by Al shabaab.
“There is devastation in our hearts when we think about the pain the fallen heroes must have gone through as they faced death in the face”, said Major Reverend Habil Nakhumwa, one of the religious leaders presiding over the event.
Shebab spokesman Shebab spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Musab claimed to have killed 63 Kenyan troops in the pre-dawn attack, but this could not be immediately verified.
“Attacks such as this further demonstrate the vile nature of Al Shabaab, whose sole goal is to spread terror and continue the destabilization of Somalia”.
“He affirms that this attack will not diminish the resolve of the United Nations to work hand in hand with the African Union and AMISOM to support the people and Government of Somalia”, said the statement.
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A Kenyan soldier, who Kenya Defence Forces said was injured in the attack by al-Shabab in Somalia earlier this week, sits in a waiting ambulance after being airlifted back to Nairobi for medical treatment, in Kenya Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016.
