Al-Shabab militants have killed one US soldier and two American defense contractors.
They were killed during an attack at a Kenyan airfield used by United States forces, on Sunday.
Kenyan authorities said the attack also destroyed US aircraft and vehicles.
According to US military, in a statement by General Stephen Townsend, who is the commander of the US Africa Command, two Americans from the Department of Defense were also wounded in the attack.
“The wounded Americans are currently in stable condition and being evacuated,” the US military’s Africa Command said.
The names of the victims will not be released by officials until their next of kin have been contacted.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of our teammates who lost their lives today,” US Army General Stephen Townsend, added.
“As we honor their sacrifice, let’s also harden our resolve. Alongside our African and international partners, we will pursue those responsible for this attack and al-Shabab who seeks to harm Americans and US interests.
“We remain committed to preventing al-Shabab from maintaining a safe haven to plan deadly attacks against the US homeland, East African and international partners.”
The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, based in nearby Somalia, claimed responsibility and asserted that ‘intense’ combat with US forces continued.
It is the first known al-Shabab attack against US forces inside Kenya, a key base for fighting one of the world’s most resilient extremist organizations.
According to Associated Press, an nternal Kenyan police report said that two fixed-wing aircraft, a US Cessna and a Kenyan one, were destroyed along with two US helicopters and multiple US vehicles at the Manda Bay military airstrip.
