30 suspected al-Shabaab militants killed in Kenyan-Somali operation

Thirty suspected members of the Islamist militias-Shabaab were killed Saturday by Kenyan and Somali soldiers on the Somali side of the border between the two countries, the Kenya Defence Force said according to dpa. One Somali soldier was injured during the ambush near Kolbio, Colonel Cyrus Oguna said. The joint operation came a few days after two suspected members of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab were killed in an airstrike, also in southern Somalia, although the source of the missile remained unknown. African Union peacekeepers in Somalia and Kenyan troops have stepped up their offensive against al-Shabaab since its attack in September on a Nairobi shopping mall. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for that attack, saying it was retaliating for Kenya sending troops to aid the peacekeepers in their battle against the militants.