Kenya military base attacked, three Americans killed

NAIROBI, KENYA: Extremists group Al-Shabab on Sunday breached an important military base used by US counter-terrorism troops in Kenya and killed three US Defense Department staff and damaged several aircraft.

The attack on the Manda Bay Airfield was the first strike by the al-Qaeda-linked organization on US forces in the East African region, and several hours after the assault, the military called the security situation “fluid.”

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Kenyan military spokesman Paul Njuguna said five assailants were killed, while extremist group Al-Shabab in neighbouring Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Indirect and small arms fire was involved in the attack on the compound. Kenya Defense Forces and the US after an initial perimeter infiltration. The Africa Command repelled the attack on Al-Shabaab, ” Africom said in a statement.

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Al-Shabab said there were 17 US deaths, nine Kenyan soldiers killed and seven aircraft lost. The US Africa Command dismissed Al-Shabab’s claims as being inflated, and the US and Kenyan forces repelled the attack.