A spokesman for extremist group al-Shabab said on Friday its fighters killed at least 51 Kenyan soldiers in an attack on a military base in Somalia. But Kenya denied it, saying "scores" of the extremist fighters were killed instead when its soldiers repelled the assault.
Al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu-Musab said the extremists seized military vehicles during the early morning attack in Kulbiyow town in lower Jubba region.
But Kenyan military spokesman PM Njuguna said in a statement that the "rumours" being spread by al-Shabab were false. Kenyan soldiers with the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia "fiercely engaged" the al-Shabab fighters who tried to penetrate the base with an explosives-laden vehicle, Njuguna said.
A Somali military officer, Col Ahmed Ali, said al-Shabab's massive suicide car bomb allowed dozens of extremists with machine guns to overrun the Kenyan camp, torching tents and arms depots.
Ali disputed al-Shabab's claim of killing at least 51 soldiers, saying the Kenyans fought back before retreating to a nearby area. He declined to give further details.