Military pallbearers stand to attention next to the coffins of four Kenyan soldiers who were killed in Somalia, at a ceremony to receive their bodies which were airlifted to Wilson Airport in Nairobi, Kenya Monday, Jan. 18, 2016.
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Somalia has vowed to step up efforts to eliminate Islamist group Al-Shabaab following last Friday’s attack on an African Union (AU) army base in its southern Gedo region.
Three of the soldiers walked unassisted from the plane to waiting ambulances while the fourth one had to be carried on a stretcher.
Three vehicles loaded with explosives were used in the attack, which was then followed by suicide bombers detonating explosives. Officials said he had severe injuries on the waist.
Four injured Kenyan fighters were received at the airport while others were flown in via Moi Air Base following the attack, whose number of casualties is yet to be released.
“We embarked on a search, rescue and recovery operation as a priority”, military chief Samson Mwathethe told reporters today morning in the capital Nairobi.
Government officials and military officers were tight lipped on the number of Kenyan soldiers killed or who went missing during the attack described as the worst since Kenya sent its troops to the neighbouring country to fight the Al Shabaab insurgency.
“Our soldiers are still on the ground for a search and rescue mission”, she said.
He added that both the KDF and Somali National Army camps in the area were hit in the simultaneous attacks.
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As said by the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in a statement late Friday afternoon, “Our gallant soldiers reacted swiftly to protect their camp to protect their peace and stability that they are in Somalia to secure and to protect our country from its enemies and their sympathizers”.
