"This morning at around 5.30 a.m., an attempt was made to breach security at Manda Air Strip. The attempted breach was successfully repulsed," the Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) said in a statement.
"Four terrorists bodies have so far been found. The airstrip is safe. Arising from the unsuccessful breach a fire broke out affecting some of the fuel tanks located at the airstrip. The fire has been put under control and standard security procedures are now on-going," the KDF added.
Manda Air Strip is located in Lamu county, bordering Somalia, and used by both Kenyan and US troops, reports Efe news.
The Al Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabab claimed the attack by "an elite group of soldiers" in a statement, which identified the base, Camp Simba, as "one of the many launch pads for the American crusade against Islam in the region".
It said it had taken "effective control of a part of the base, inflicting severe casualties on both American and Kenyan troops stationed there".
This would be the second attack the group has committed in Kenya in a matter of days in the same region.
On January 2, an attack on a passenger bus left at least three dead and three wounded.
Al-Shabab had also carried out the the January 15, 2019 terror attack against the DusitD2 hotel complex in Nairobi that killed 21 people.
The group also claimed responsibility for a truck bombing on December 28 in Mogadishu and in which at least 85 people died and more than 140 were injured.
( With inputs from IANS )