Nairobi - Kenyan troops clashed with Somalia's al-Qaeda linked Shebab militants leaving several dead

Somali soldiers patrol
near the scene of a blast
in Somalia's capital
Mogadishu.
Nairobi - Kenyan troops
clashed with Somalia's al-
Qaeda linked Shebab
militants leaving several
dead, the latest
casualties in weeks of
dragging conflict in
southern Somalia,
officials and insurgents
said on Friday.
One Kenyan soldier died
after troops attacked a
Shebab base at Beles
Qoqani about 60
kilometres into Somalia,
killing five militants and
leaving “many wounded,”
said Kenyan army
spokesman Major
Emmanuel Chirchir.
However, the hardline
Shebab claimed to have
ambushed Kenyan troops
on Thursday with an
explosive device, forcing
a Kenyan armoured
vehicle to stop.
“Upon stopping to
survey the damage, a
hail of bullets waylaid the
inexperienced boys,” the
insurgents said in a
Twitter message, claiming
to have killed 11
Kenyans but making no
mention of their own
casualties.
None of the casualty
reports could be
independently verified.
Kenya sent troops
across the border into
Somalia in October to
battle the hardline
militants it blamed for a
spate attacks on home
soil.
The Shebab insurgents
control large parts of
central and southern
Somalia but are facing
increasing pressure from
government forces and
regional armies.
The Horn of Africa
country has been
ravaged by a nearly
uninterrupted civil war
since the 1991 ouster of
president Mohamed Siad
Barre sparked vicious
bloodletting by rival
militias fighting for power.