MOGADISHU, Somalia – At least three Kenyan soldiers were killed and two others wounded on Tuesday in a roadside bomb blast in the port town of Kismayo, located in the Lower Jubba region, about 500km south of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The explosion targeted a security checkpoint manned by Kenyan troops serving under the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, leaving three soldiers dead. The troops reportedly fired several shots in response, though no casualties were reported.
A witness said the wounded soldiers were transported to a hospital run by the Kenyan military within their camp near the city’s airport, while other troops sealed off the crime scene and launched an operation afterward.
In a brief statement, al Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked group, claimed responsibility for the bombing, stating that it had killed three soldiers and wounded two others. The group did not provide further details on the explosion.
The Kenyan military has yet to comment on the claims. The group also said it had killed two police officers and seized their rifles following another landmine explosion in the Heliwa district of the capital, Mogadishu. The claim has not been independently verified.
This comes two weeks after the group claimed to have killed eight African Union soldiers, including five Ugandans—among them bomb disposal officers—and three Ethiopians in explosions in the Lower Shabelle and Bay regions of Somalia.
Last month, al Shabaab also claimed to have killed two Kenyan soldiers and wounded two others when mortar rounds fired by militants landed in a military camp in Kulbiyow, just 18 km from the Somali-Kenyan border. They also alleged that U.S. military personnel were present during the mortar strike, a claim that remains unverified.
Despite losing control of many towns, the militant group has stepped up its attacks since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared an “all-out war” to drive them from Somalia.
Driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by Somali and African Union forces, the extremist group continues to carry out deadly attacks. For over a decade, they have been fighting to overthrow the Somali government and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
Al Shabaab still controls large areas in southern and central Somalia, from which it is believed to launch attacks against Somali National Army bases, African Union peacekeepers, and the capital, Mogadishu.
