Al-Shabaab militants on Friday morning claimed to have seized a remote Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) military base at Kulbiyow town, Somalia.

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The group is serving in an African Union force as peacekeepers.

Al-Shabab once ruled larger part of Somalia, and wants to topple the Western-backed government in Mogadishu and drive out the peacekeepers made up of soldiers from Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Ethiopia and other African countries.

"Two mujahideen rammed suicide car bombs into the base in Kulbiyow town before storming it. After hand-to-hand fighting, we have taken over the base," said Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operation spokesman, according to Reuters.

The incident comes after the January 5, 2016 El Adde attack which claimed more than 100 lives of KDF soldiers dead in Somalia.

The Kenyan government is however yet to make any official communication about the incident.