Kenyan security forces kill 10 suspected al-Shabab fighters

Kenyan security forces have killed 10 fighters from the Somalia-based al-Shabab group in eastern Kenya, a government official says.

They also recovered rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices after fighting the group on Wednesday in the village of Galmagalla in Garissa county, Thomas Bett, deputy county commissioner of the Bura East sub-county, said on Thursday.

“The operation to flush out the Somalia militants’ group in the region was carried out by our multi-agency team, … and [it] managed to neutralise 10 Islamist group militants and recovered assault weapons,” he told the Reuters new agency.

Spokespeople for al-Shabab could not be reached for comment.

The al-Qaeda affiliate has made incursions into Kenya for years to pressure the country into withdrawing its troops from the African Union-mandated peacekeeping force helping Somalia’s central government fight the group.

Al-Shabab has targeted security forces, schools, vehicles, towns and telecommunications infrastructure in eastern Kenya although the frequency and intensity of their attacks have declined in recent years.

A 2013 attack on the Westgate shopping mall Nairobi, killed 67 people.

Al-Shabab has been fighting for more than a decade to topple Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule, based on its strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Last week, the group killed four workers from Kenya’s highway authority when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Garissa county. On Tuesday, one person died when a convoy was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in the same region, police said in a report.