Kenya: KDF Air Strikes Pound 2 Somali Al-Shabaab Bases Killing at Least 80

By Staff Writer

Kenyan Warplanes have bombed two military bases of Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab killing scores of fighters killed on Sunday June 23 in the outskirts of Jilib town, Juba region.

UN-backed AU mission in Somalia (Amisom) fighting the extremists said on Monday June 23 that two of their fighter jets bombed the bases in Maanyo village 15 km west of Jilib district, southern Lower Juba region.

Two Al-Shabaab military vehicles were destroyed in the attack with reports indicating that some of Al Shabaab’s senior commanders were at the scene when the Kenyan planes bombed the two bases.

The air strikes on the villages of Anole and Kuday are part of the offensive by the 22 000 Amisom, who launched in March 2014 a fresh bid to wrest remaining towns from the Islamists.

"Amisom forces have conducted airstrikes... as part of a sustained effort to destroy Al-Shabaab’s military capabilities," the force said in a statement, adding it was Kenyan air planes that carried out the bombing.

The air strikes come one week after the Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for twin massacres on Kenya's coastal town of Mpeketoni in which at least 60 people were killed, although Nairobi blamed those attacks on local political networks.

Al-Shabaab said it carried out the attacks in revenge for Kenya's Defence Force (KDF) role in southern Somalia, as part of the Amisom.

At Anole, the AU said airstrikes "left more than 30 Al-Shabaab fighters dead", while in Kuday, the strikes "killed more than 50 insurgents".

AU envoy Mahamat Saleh Annadif praised the latest push against the Islamist fighters.

"We will employ all the means at our disposal to end their reign of terror," Annadif said.

After withdrawing from fixed positions in the capital Mogadishu nearly three years ago, the militia group has lost most large towns to the AU and government soldiers. However, they still regularly launch guerrilla raids.

Recent Al-Shabaab attacks in Somalia have targeted key areas of government, or the security forces, in an apparent bid to discredit claims by the authorities and AU troops that they are winning the war.

Foreign diplomats say the Al-Shabaab threaten several nations in East Africa, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, who all have troops in Somalia.

Meanwhile, Kenya Defence Forces spokesman, Emmanuel Chirchir confirmed on his twitter page that Kenyan warplanes launched an aerial offensive against Al-Shabaab on Sunday.

It is not the first time that Kenyan warplanes bombed Al-Shabaab bases in Jubba and Gedo regions.