The Kenyan army said Saturday that 70 militants had been killed in Somalia the previous day during a terrorist attack targeting its soldiers in the country.
The government in Nairobi had given no details of casualties among its own troops as of Saturday.
The terrorist organization Al-Shabaab claimed that it had slain 57 Kenyan soldiers.
Two suicide bombers rammed two vehicles into an African Union military base in Kolbiyow in the Lower Juba region on Friday.
Kenyan Defence Ministry spokesman Paul Njuguna confirmed that the attack had led to “heavy fighting.”
The Sunni extremists are battling to establish an Islamist state in Somalia in a conflict that has cost thousands of lives.
While Al-Shabaab often exaggerates the number of casualties caused by its attacks, the Kenyan government regularly remains silent on military losses.
According to the Somali government, an attack in January 2016 could have killed up 180 Kenyan soldiers. Nairobi has refused to release information on the bloodshed.