Hiiraan Online
Thursday, January 21, 2016
MOGADISHU (HOL) –It was a quiet morning for the newly deployed Kenyan unit based at El-Adde camp before a speeding suicide car bomb rammed into the gate, exposing soldiers inside to dozens of armed militants with explosives strapped on their waists who blasted their way into the base.
It was the beginning of a deadly day for the troops who were deployed just two weeks ago, with militants overrun the base, killed more than 60 soldiers and looted the base as Al-Shabab fighters controlled the base for hours before making off with all military hardware they seized.
However, some soldiers escaped into forests while others were captured by militants who claimed they killed 100 soldiers in the attack, perhaps one of the deadliest attacks on the African Union forces in
Somalia.
Details about the causalities still remain scanty as the Kenyan government which sent its troops into Somalia in 2011 after spate of attacks and kidnappings on its soil vowed that ‘blood’ of its soldiers
was not shed in ‘vain’
Al-Shabab which often films most of attacks by its fighters made no exception for the latest attack, releasing hundreds of images taken from the KDF base, including gruesome photos showing dead soldiers and military hardware seized during the attack.
Other photos showed fighters spraying bullets onto dying soldiers, and masked fighters walking across the base.
Two days ago, the group has also released audio recordings allegedly from KDF soldiers captured during the attack.
“I have a wife and two children back home,” said one Kenyan prisoner in a recording released by Al-Shabab.
“On 15 January, 2016, the camp was raided by the Al-Shabab, whereby they overpowered us.”
However, Kenyan air forces have unleashed airstrikes on militants’bases in retaliation for the attack which faces domestic pressure to bring back the missing soldiers.
At least 30 soldiers wounded in the attack were airlifted to Nairobi since last week, according to the Kenyan government.