A column of Al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia. The organization reported that it ambushed and killed 30 Kenyan troops involved in a US-backed invasion of the Horn of Africa state., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Al-Shabab ambush kills 30 Kenyan troops
Fri Nov 11, 2011 2:1PM GMT
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Somalia's al-Shabab fighters (file photo)
Somalia's al-Shabab fighters say they have killed at least 30 foreign soldiers in an attack in the country's south, as violence rages on the lawless Horn of Africa nation, Press TV reports.
The incident occurred when the Somali fighters ambushed a convoy of Kenyan troops, which resulted in an hours-long battle.
The fighting began on Thursday afternoon and continued overnight between the southern Somali towns of Tabda, where Kenyan soldiers are operating, and Bilis Qooqaani.
Al-Shabab fighters said they also managed to destroy six Kenyan military trucks.
Somali government officials, however, has put the number of mortalities at about 21.
They said only three trucks destroyed in that attack and four other vehicles were captured by the fighters.
The conflict is the latest outbreak of violence in southern Somalia, where Kenyan forces and al-Shabab fighter have been engaged fierce battled over the last weeks.
In October, Kenya dispatched soldiers into neighboring Somalia and began air and ground offensives against al-Shabab fighters, who Nairobi blames for a string of kidnappings in Kenya.
Tension has been growing between the Somali government backed by Kenyan troops and al-Shabab fighters over control of towns in south Somalia.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew the country's former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced people in the world.
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