This archive report was first published on 6 January 2020.
On January 5, 2020, an Al Shabaab attack occurred at Camp Simba in Manda Bay, Lamu County, with reports indicating that the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) might have suffered casualties.
The United States Africa Command (Africom) confirmed that three US citizens were killed in the attack, with two others escaping with injuries. The injured were in a stable condition and were being evacuated.
According to a statement from Africom, 'one US service member and two Department of Defense contractors were killed at Kenya Defense Force Military Base in Manda Bay, Kenya' during the attack.
However, the KDF has not released any official statement on the number of casualties it suffered, only stating that the soldiers had successfully repulsed the attack and recovered five bodies of terrorists.
A US Senator, Jim Risch, Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed his condolences for the fallen soldiers, stating, 'I am saddened to learn that American and Kenyan lives were lost during a heinous terrorist attack on a Kenya-US operating base early this morning. The US-Kenya partnership remains strong in the fight against al-Shabaab and global terrorism.'
Reports also indicate that at least six planes and several armoured vehicles were destroyed during the attack, but the KDF has not commented on the damage.
