United States military deployed elite Marine Raiders stationed in her various bases across East Africa, Military Times has revealed.
Al-Shabaab militants ran over the Manda Airfield early this month, catching soldiers unaware in the process.
Two American contractors and a US Marine corp were killed during the raid that lasted for several hours.
And according to the Military Times, Marines from 3rd Marine Raider Battalion, based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, led Kenyan commandos against the Islamic militants.
The Marine Raiders are only dispatched to sophisticated combats or when allies are in a perilous position during a raid.
Army Spc. Henry “Mitch” Mayfield Jr., 23, was identified as the soldier killed while supporting Operation Octave Shield, the name for the mission focused on targeting militant groups in Somalia, Army Times reported.
The details comes after New York Times claimed that the KDF troops at the station hid in the grass when the militants attacked.
“The performance of the Kenyan security forces during and after the battle frustrated American officials,” the Times says in a story compiled by four of its journalists.
However, Col. Paul Njuguna, the KDF spokesman, on Wednesday rubbished the claims, arguing that the official report will give finer details of what transpired.