Kenyan fighter jets strike Somali town

Kenyan fighter jets have struck several targets in the southern Somali town of Diff, raising fears of potential casualties, Press TV reports.

A Diff resident told Press TV that four warplanes launched raids on Monday and bombarded training camps of Somali militant group, Al-Shabab in Diff, about 20 km from the border.

“We heard several blasts today, we can’t confirm how many people died in the attacks,” said Ahmed Muse.

Another resident said hundreds of heavily armed Kenyan soldiers, Somali forces and Ras Kamboni militias entered the strategic town after the airstrikes forced the al-Shabab fighters to vacate the town.

“Many of pro-government troops are now based in three new bases in the town,” Sharif Abdi told Press TV.

The attack came a day after the fighters re-captured Diff from Somali government troops and Kenyan forces.

On Sunday, Kenyan fighter jets struck an area southwest of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, killing at least 22 people.

Kenya has beefed up security along its border with Somalia since it dispatched soldiers into the conflict-plagued country last October to chase al-Shabab militants, which it accuses of being behind the kidnapping of several foreigners on its territory. Al-Shabab, however, has denied any involvement.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Somalia is one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced people in the world.

presstv