KDF spokesman;

“It is not true that the Al-Shabaab overrun our camp. It was an attempted attack which has been repulsed,”

Hoping so

A Somali military officer told VOA Somali “small surveillance drones spotted the oncoming al-Shabab fighters.” He said the troops fired mortars at the insurgents, but that failed to stop them and the militants later drove “two explosive-laden trucks into the base.”

A small number of Somali forces and Kenyan troops fought to hold off the attack from al-Shabab, but the militants detonated more explosives and continued heavy gunfire.

Residents said the fighting lasted more than 90 minutes.

Residents said the militants launched the attack from the nearby town of Badhadhe.

Kulbiyow is a Somali town in Lower Jubba close to the border with Kenya.

Just two days ago, Kenyan troops at Kulbiyow attacked an al-Shabab base at Badhadhe before retreating back to Kulbiyow.

Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, its military operation spokesman, claimed they had also taken over the camp and seized weapons and military vehicles.

"We are pursuing the Kenyan soldiers who ran away into the woods," he told Reuters.

"Two mujahideen (fighters) rammed suicide car bombs into the base in Kulbiyow town before storming it," he said