Kenya military claims killing 100 al-Shabab militants after bus attack

Kenya says its troops killed dozens of al-Shabab Islamists in raids inside Somalia after the execution of 28 non-Muslims on a Kenyan bus.

There was no independent confirmation of the strikes in response to Saturday’s attack by the al-Qaeda-linked group near Mandera, a northeastern town near the Kenya-Somali border.

The Shabab swiftly rubbished Kenya’s claim, calling it “totally baseless and unfounded”.

Nairobi claimed there were 100 dead in Saturday’s operation but gave no further details about where it took place.

“Following the Mandera bus attack, our security forces swiftly initiated a response. They identified, followed and struck the perpetrators of these heinous crimes,” Kenya’s Vice-President William Ruto said on Sunday.

He said Kenyan troops carried out two successful operations, causing “more than 100 fatalities” as well as destroying four trucks carrying weaponry and smashing the camp where the attack was planned.

The al-Shabab’s military spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab however said that its militants “did not face any attack whatsoever after the successful operation they carried out”.