Al Shabaab militants

The Kenyan army says it has killed at least 21 members of the Somalia-based al-Shabab Takfiri militant group during a firefight in the neighboring country.

Two Kenyan soldiers were also killed and five others injured during the clashes with the militants in the city of Afmadow in southern Somalia on Saturday afternoon, Kenyan military spokesman David Obonyo said.

The militants were killed during a “fierce engagement” with the Kenyan soldiers, operating under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Obonyo said.

Last week, the Kenyan army said it had killed 19 al-Shabab militants after foiling their attack on a military camp in Afmadow.

The Kenyan government sent over 3,000 soldiers to Somalia in late 2011 after the al-Shabab carried out a series of raids inside the country.

Al-Shabab has vowed to continue fatal cross-border raids until the government in Nairobi pulls its troops out of Somalia.

Somalia has been the scene of deadly fighting between government forces and al-Shabab elements since 2006.

The militants have been pushed out of Mogadishu and other major cities by government troops and the AMISOM, which is largely made up of troops from Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone, and Kenya.

Al-Shabab members have, however, continued to carry out attacks in Mogadishu despite being ousted from their bases in the seaside city in 2011.