Kenya‘s military said its air force has attacked an al-Shabab training camp in Somalia in retaliation for last month’s mall siege that left at least 67 people dead.
The Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) said Thursday that they destroyed a training camp used by the members of the armed group, which claimed responsibility for the Westgate Mall attack on Sept. 21, according to a report by Al-Jazeera.
“This was part of a broader mission by the AMISOM, the U.N.-backed African peacekeeping mission in Somalia, targeting where the al-Shabab were training. Those attackers at the Westgate did their training there,” Col. Cyrus Oguna, a spokesman for the Kenyan military, said. “We have been monitoring this particular area over a period of time, and we moved in when we got the green light.”
The camp had over 300 fighters, many of whom are believed to have been killed or injured, the KDF said in a statement.
Kenya’s military said the “major aerial offensive” in the Dinsoor region completely destroyed the training camp along with at least four improvised fighting vehicles and a weapons store, the report said.
“This military operation is not an isolated one, but we will continue targeting al-Shabab camps in the near future” Oguna said.
The attack happened at 2 p.m. local time in Diinsoor, in Southwestern Somalia.
