When Kenya Defense Forces team holds memorial for soldiers killed in battlefield, Kulbiyow attack is one of those adversely mentioned by the troops.
For Second Lieutenant John Njoroge, the experience in January 2017 has left him heartbroken and without a job despite gallantly serving the country.
The attack, which was the second major ran over on a KDF camp in Somalia, left over 70 soldiers dead. It was the second after the El Adde attack of 2016.
For Njoroge, who lost memory years after, it's been an experience of betrayal by his own country. His parents from Njoro are yet to understand why he was never counseled but instead sacked.
According to his mother, Joyce Wangari, Njoroge, who scored an A- in his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination, brought a ray of hope to the family after he joined the military.
“Whenever he came home after commissioning he showed commitment to serve in the military. He provided financial support to the entire family and his own,” she said.
The family noticed something was wrong as soon as Njoroge returned home.
“He was well until after that attack. When he came back home from the deployment, we started noticing change in behaviour. He would fight with anyone including myself and later apologise,” said Njoroge’s father, Peter Mwangi.
When reached for comment, the Department of Defence (DoD) said that Njoroge's contract with the military was terminated before his condition worsened.
“2 Lieutenant (Rtd) John Njoroge Mwangi is no longer serving in the Kenya Defence Forces. His Commission was terminated in August 2018 on disciplinary grounds. During his time in service he did not exhibit any signs of psychological disturbance,” read part of the response from DoD.
At first, KDF vehemently denied claims that the Al-Shabaab ran over the camp, disputing photos put on internet by the militants.
However, later on, it emerged that over 70 soldiers had died. Until to date, no official report has been given at to what exactly transpired in the deadly attack.
"We are under massive attack and there is massive exchange of fire," military spokesman Lt-Col Paul Njuguna told Nation.co.ke.
He denied claims that KDF camp had been overran by Al-Shabaab.
“Our soldiers repulsed the terrorists who had tried to access the camp using a Suicide Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device,” Lt-Col Njuguna said in a statement.
As reports citing eyewitness accounts of the Kulbiyow attack began to emerge from Somali and Kenyan media outlets, doubts grew towards the official Kenyan account.
In these reports, al-Shabaab overwhelmed the KDF garrison, inflicting dozens of casualties on the defenders.
These accounts were backed up when al-Shabaab released a large batch of images allegedly from the attack, showing militants in control of the base and tens of Kenyan casualties.
From these images and Kenyan and Somalian news reports, a competing picture materialized of the course of events.