Al-Shabaab militants attack US-Kenya military base: govt official
Nairobi: Militants from Somalia's Al-Shabaab group on Sunday attacked a military base used by US and Kenyan forces in Kenya's coastal Lamu region, a government official said.
"There was an attack but they have been repulsed," Lamu Commissioner Irungu Macharia told AFP.
He said the attack took place before dawn at the base known as Camp Simba, and that "a security operation is ongoing", without saying if there had been casualties.
"We are not sure if there are still remnants within," he said.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying they had "successfully stormed the heavily fortified military base and have now taken effective control of part of the base." The group said there had been both Kenyan and American casualties, however this could not be immediately verified.
Al-Shabaab said the attack was part of its "Al-Quds (Jerusalem) shall never be Judaized" campaign -- a term it first used during an attack on the upscale Dusit hotel complex in Nairobi in January last year that left 21 people dead.
The Somali militants have staged several large-scale attacks inside Kenya, in retaliation for Nairobi sending troops into Somalia in 2011 to fight the group, as well as to target foreign interests.
Despite years of costly efforts to fight Al-Shabaab, the group on December 28 managed to detonate a vehicle packed with explosives in Mogadishu, killing 81 people.
The spate of attacks highlight the group's resilience and capacity to inflict mass casualties at home and in the region, despite losing control of major urban areas in Somalia.
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ISRO's PSLV-C62 lifts off with earth observation satellite, 14 other payloads
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): ISRO's trusted workhorse PSLV lifted off from the spaceport here on Monday, carrying an earth observation satellite along with 14 other commercial payloads for both domestic and overseas customers.
Marking the first launch of the year, the mission is part of the contract secured by NewSpace India Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO.
The 44.4 metre tall four-stage PSLV-C62 rocket soared from the first launch pad at a prefixed time of 10.18 hours on Monday.
After a journey of 17 minutes, it is expected to place the satellites into Sun Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of about 511 km.
After the separation of all the satellites, scientists would restart the fourth stage (PS4) of the rocket to de-boost and enter a re-entry trajectory for the separation of the last satellite, the Kestrel Initial Technology Demonstrator (KID) capsule.
This process is expected to last over two hours after lift-off.
Both the PS4 stage and the KID capsule would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and make a splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean, ISRO said.
