Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:3PM GMT
Reddit
Kenyan troops near the Kenya-Somalia border. (File Pfoto)
Kenyan airstrikes have claimed the lives of at least 64 Somali civilians, while leaving dozens of others injured, Press TV reports.
The fatal airstrikes were carried out by Kenyan jet fighters near the southern town of Afmadow, a Press TV correspondent reported on Sunday. At least 130 people were also injured in the air attacks.
Kenyan troops have advanced about 100 kilometers (60 miles) into the southern areas and, having seized the key Somali town of Qooqani last Tuesday, are bracing for another round of attacks on the strategic city of Afmadow, largely controlled by al-Shabab.
The main target of the joint Somali-Kenyan offensive is also to flush out the militants from the port city of Kismayo -- Shabab's economic headquarters, located about 120 kilometers (75 miles) to the southeast of Afmadow.
The Kenyan military intervention followed Nairobi's accusation that al-Shabab had kidnapped four European women, including two Spanish humanitarian aid workers, in Kenya over the past weeks.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
SZH/JR
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