Kenyan troops kill 60 al-Shabab fighters

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The Kenyan army said it killed 60 al-Shabab militia fighters during an airstrike in Somalia.

Army spokesman Col. Cyrus Oguna said another 20 of the militant Islamist fighters have defected in recent weeks, the BBC reported.

"We will keep hitting them until their spine is completely broken ... and we will relish that moment," Oguna said.

"The resistance from al-Shabab is crumbling, there is division within the al-Shabab leadership," he said.

Al-Shabab leaders responded by promising to defeat the Kenyan army.

The Kenyan military intervention was "rapidly rolling down a path towards an ignominious end endured by all previous invaders," al-Shabab officials said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, al-Shabab has been enlisting young boys in Afyoye, a small town about 18 miles from Mogadishu, Shabelle News reported.

Local residents said al-Shabab vehicles with microphones were seen Friday patrolling the streets to recruit young boys.