Shabab militants ‘kill 5 soldiers’ in Kenya’s north

Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants in Kenya have killed at least five soldiers in a roadside bomb attack in the country’s north, a senior government official says.

Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants in Kenya have killed at least five soldiers in a roadside bomb attack in the country’s north, a senior government official says.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the soldiers from the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) were killed on Wednesday when their truck ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in the coastal Lamu County.

KDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Paul Njuguna, however, told Reuters that six soldiers were injured, three critically, in the explosion but that no one was killed.

“There was an IED, which injured six of our soldiers. Three of them are in critical condition but they have been airlifted for specialized treatment. The injured are stabilizing,” he said.

It was not immediately clear why the accounts of the KDF and the government official differed.

A spokesman for al-Shabab militants said the group was behind the attack on the KDF convoy and claimed nine soldiers had been killed.