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'Civilians dead' in Kenya air raid on Somalia militants Kenya air raid in Somalia Jilib town 'kills civilians'
(about 17 hours later)
Civilians are reported to be among 10 people killed and 50 injured after Kenyan jets targeted al-Shabab militants in southern Somalia. At least five people, including three children, have died after a refugee camp in southern Somalia was bombed, the MSF charity says.
A Kenyan military spokesman told the BBC the planes had targeted the outskirts of the town of Jilib. Kenya's army denied bombing the camp, saying it had been attacked by the militant Islamist group, al-Shabab.
He said fighters of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group had been killed. A Kenya fighter jet only hit al-Shabab positions in Jilib, killing 10 of its fighters, an army spokesman said.
But Medecins Sans Frontieres said it was treating those hurt in a strike which MSF said struck a camp for displaced people, killing three. Kenya sent troops into Somalia on 16 October to pursue al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda.
'Camp hit' In a statement, MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres) said aerial bombardments in Jilib - a stronghold of al-Shabab - had hit a camp for displaced people on Sunday.
Kenyan forces have moved across the Somalia border to target the group. Three children, a woman and a man were killed in the attack and another 45 people were treated for shrapnel wounds, MSF-Holland Somalia mission head Gautam Chatterjee said.
The country blames al-Shabab for frequent assaults on its security forces in the border province of North Eastern as well as a spate of kidnappings. In a BBC interview, Kenyan military spokesman Maj Emmanuel Chirchir denied that Kenya's air force had bombed the camp.
"We received intelligence that a top al-Shabab leader was to visit a camp in Jilib so we conducted an air raid," Kenya army spokesman Maj Emmanuel Chirchir told the BBC. 'Attack at sea'
"Confirmation from the human intelligence is that 10 al-Shabab fighters were killed and 47 others wounded," he added. "MSF is being used by al-Shabab [for propaganda purposes]," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
He said that no civilian camp had been attacked dismissing reports that displaced civilians had been killed as "al-Shabab propaganda". He said an al-Shabab militant had driven a truck laden with explosives into the camp, causing the casualties.
But Medecins Sans Frontieres said in a statement on Sunday that its staff at a hospital in Marere were treating dozens of injured civilians following an aerial bombardment in Jilib. A Kenyan fighter jet had attacked an al-Shabab base near the refugee camp, Maj Chirchir said.
The group said the attack struck a camp for internally-displaced people at around 13:30 local time (10:30 GMT) and that women and children made up most of the injured who were being brought to its facilities. "We received intelligence that a top al-Shabab leader was to visit a camp in Jilib so we conducted an air raid," he said.
The hardline al-Shabab group, which controls much of southern Somalia, denies carrying out kidnappings and has warned Kenya to withdraw its troops from Somalia or face bloody battles. Maj Chirchir said "human intelligence" showed that 10 al-Shabab fighters had been killed and 47 wounded.
The Islamist group is locked in a battle with the transitional government for control of parts of the country currently outside of is power, particularly in the capital Mogadishu. Mr Chatterjee said MSF had evacuated its staff from Jilib, the AFP news agency reports.
The government controls very little territory, but does have several militant groups around the country it regards as allies, and it is backed by the international community. "So today the nutrition clinic and cholera centre are closed. We will re-open as soon as things are a bit safer for our staff there," he is quoted as saying.
Maj Chirchir said al-Shabab had also been attacked at sea, with the Kenyan navy capsizing three of its boats along the Somali coast.
Kenya says it is pursuing al-Shabab in Somalia because it poses a threat to its stability.
It accuses the group of a spate of kidnappings in Kenya - including that of a French woman who died in Somalia earlier this month.
Al-Shabab denies involvement in the abductions.
It has vowed to retaliate against Kenya for sending troops into Somalia.
Somalia has been without an effective for more than 20 years.
The UN declared a famine earlier this year in six areas under al-Shabab's control.
Somalia's Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohammed visited Kenya on Monday and said al-Shabab was the common enemy of Somalia and Kenya and the best way to deal with the effects of the famine was to defeat the group.
He said Somali government troops were taking the lead in the offensive against al-Shabab and that the Kenyan military was playing a supportive role.
Last week, Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said he was opposed to Kenya's intervention.
Some humanitarian agencies are worried that the operation threatens to make it harder to get aid to the victims of the famine in southern Somalia, correspondents say.