NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan soldiers killed 10 fighters from the Somalian militant group al Shabaab in a clash on Monday in eastern Kenya, the military said.

Three soldiers were wounded in the morning attack launched by the army in coastal Lamu county, a Kenya Defence Forces statement said.

“Following the incident, 10 al Shabaab fighters were killed. The soldiers are in pursuit of other militants who fled with injuries,” the statement said.

Al Shabaab, whose aim is to topple Somalia’s U.N.-backed government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam, intensified attacks in Kenya since Nairobi sent troops into Somalia in 2011. It wants the soldiers, who are part of an African Union peace-keeping mission, to leave Somalia.

But the frequency and severity of their attacks in Kenya has reduced in the past six months.

Kenyan security officials say the militants have used the Boni forest straddling the Kenya-Somalia border as a hideout.