Three al Shabaab militants were killed by KDF soldiers when they repulsed an attack at Basuba, Lamu county, on Wednesday.

Five of the soldiers varying degrees of injury when the militants pelted an IED device at a KDF vehicle 7km from Basuba, KDF spokesperson David Obonyo said in a statement.

"Two AK 47 rifles and 17 bullets were recovered," he said, adding that the incident occurred while the soldiers were on a routine patrol.

He said other militants escaped with bullet wounds.

Obonyo said the five soldiers, two of whom are critically injured, are admitted at Armed Forces Memorial Hospital in Nairobi.

He urged locals to continue cooperating with security forces in the fight to secure the area from al Shabaab.

This comes days after an unknown number of al Shabaab fighters were killed by KDF troops and the Somali National Army, who captured the town of Bardheere in Gedo region.

The militants had captured Juungal which is 35 kilometres from Bardheere and reportedly released several prisoners before fleeing from Amisom troops who had entered the town.

Military officer Osman Jilicow said the militants killed two local elders before they fled.