Somali Government confirms 200 Kenyan troops killed by al-Shabaab in January

The government of Somalia has said that about 200 peacekeepers were killed in an al-Shabaab attack on an AU military base in the country last month.

Somali president, Hassan Mohamud, said on Thursday in Mogadishu, that the attack was one of the most devastating Islamist attacks on AU troops in Somalia.

He said more than 180 Kenyans were killed when al-Shabaab Islamist stormed the base in the southern village of el-Adde on January 15.

“When about 180 boys, just nearly 200 Kenyan troops, are killed in an area inside Somalia, it is really compulsory for me as the president of Somalia to go to Kenya to say, ‘Very sorry for your losses’,” the president said.

Mohamud said Kenyan troops form part of a 20,000-strong AU contingent helping Somalia battle al-Shabaab, which was affiliated with the international al-Qaeda terrorist network.

(NAN)