They said the blast hit near Afgoye, one of 10 Somali towns the Kenyan military said risked air strikes due to the presence of al Shabaab rebel bases.
“I’ve never heard such an explosion in my life,” Afgoye resident Mohamud Abdi Ali told Reuters. “It didn’t explode in the town, but I think it exploded near al Shabaab’s military camps.”
A farmer, who lives near the rebel camps at Afgoye and gave his name as Abdi, said a missile struck buildings outside the town used by al Shabaab fighters for meetings.
Afgoye is a strategic junction on the road leading from the capital to the south of the Horn of Africa nation.
“I heard a huge explosion outside Afgoye myself, but I do not know what it is,” a senior al Shabaab official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
The United States has used drones in the past to target top al Shabaab officials.
Kenya’s military spokesman was not available for comment.
Kenya, the region’s biggest economy, sent troops into Somalia five weeks ago to rout the insurgents it blames for kidnappings of Western aid workers and tourists on Kenyan soil, and frequent cross-border incursions.
After a fairly smooth advance, Kenya’s forces fighting al Shabaab have since been camped near several rebel strongholds, but have yet to have a major showdown with the insurgents, nor seize any significant strategic bases.
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Other residents living between Mogadishu and Afgoye said they saw a bright light streaking overhead in the night sky.