Kenya has long been worried Iran was trying to cultivate ties with al-Shabab

In this photo taken Aug. 26, 2019 and released by the U.S. Air Force, airmen from the 475th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron conduct a flag-raising ceremony, signifying the change from tactical to enduring operations, at Camp Simba, Manda Bay, Kenya. The al-Shabab extremist group said Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020 that it has attacked the Camp Simba military base used by U.S. and Kenyan troops in coastal Kenya, while Kenya's military says the attempted pre-dawn breach was repulsed and at least four attackers were killed. (Staff Sgt. Lexie West/U.S. Air Force via AP) Image Credit: AP

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Nairobi: The al-Shabab extremist group says it has attacked a military base used by US and Kenyan troops in coastal Kenya. Kenya’s military says the attempted pre-dawn breach was repulsed and at least four attackers were killed.

The early Sunday attack comes days after a US air strike killed Iran’s top military commander and Iran vowed retaliation.

Analyst Rashid Abdi in Twitter posts discussing the attack said that Kenyan security services have long been worried that Iran was trying to cultivate ties with al-Shabab.

“Avowedly Wahhabist Al-Shabaab not natural ally of Shia Iran, hostile, even. But if Kenyan claims true, As attack may have been well-timed to signal to Iran it is open for tactical alliances,” he wrote.

A witness reports a plume of black smoke rising above the base and says residents are reporting a car bomb exploded.

The US Africa Command confirms the attack on Camp Simba in Lamu county. An internal Kenyan police report seen by The Associated Press says two fixed-wing aircraft, one US and one Kenyan, were destroyed along with two US helicopters and multiple US vehicles at the Manda Bay military airstrip.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab is based in neighboring Somalia and has launched a number of attacks in Kenya.

Al-Shabab has been the target of a growing number of US air strikes during President Donald Trump’s administration.

An al-Shabab statement Sunday asserted that it had inflicted casualties in the raid on the military base in Manda Bay, near the border with Somalia, and destroyed US military equipment, including aircraft.

“The airstrip is safe,” the Kenyan military statement said.

“Arising from the unsuccessful breach a fire broke out affecting some of the fuel tanks located at the airstrip.”

The attack comes just over a week after an al-Shabab truck bomb in Somalia’s capital killed at least 79 people and US airstrikes killed seven al-Shabab fighters in response.