An elite squad purportedly from Al-Shabaab militants on Sunday reportedly stormed a US Naval base in Kenya, taking firm control albeit temporarily, the group has claimed, according to a tweet by Nation.
During the alleged raid at Camp Simba in Manda Island, Al-Shabaab has claimed, US military equipment were destroyed, among them vehicles and aircraft.
Camp Simba hosts the elite US submarine team and troops from Kenya Defense Forces (KDF). It is situated along the Kenya-Somalia border along the Indian Ocean.
In a statement issued by the Al-Qaida associated group, the militants allegedly conducted the raid early morning on Sunday.
Sunday is not a working day in Kenya and is deemed to be ideal by the militants to conduct such raids.
Manda is found in Lamu County.
Al-Shabaab claimed: "In early morning on Sunday, an elite group of soldiers from Harakat Al-Shabaab launched a daring dawn raid at a US Naval base known as Camp Simba."
The militants also claimed that both Kenya and the US suffered heavy casualties during the raid, which comes a day after the US killed a top Iranian commander.
However, Al-Shabaab did not confirm the alleged numbers of soldiers affected during the "successful raid" that targeted Americans.
"Fighters covertly entered the enemy lines, successfully stormed the heavily fortified military base and have now effectively taken control, inflicting casualties on both American and Kenyan troops," read the statement according to a tweet by Morad News.
On Saturday, Kenya heightened security at the US embassy in Nairobi, according to Nation, following the standoff between Washington and Tehran.
The US had on Friday killed General Qassem Soleimani, a top military commander in Iran over terrorism-related allegations.