Kenyan police have arrested two doctors with suspected ties to the Somali insurgent group al-Shabab, while the Kenyan military continues its cross-border hunt for members of al-Shabab in southern Somalia.

Police said Friday the two doctors were detained in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. They are due to appear in court Friday on terror-related charges.

A Kenyan ground and air offensive is also targeting al-Shabab rebels in southern Somalia. Army officials say they have taken control of the Somali coastal city of Ras Kamboni and are said to be closing in on Kismayo, an important al-Shabab base.

Meanwhile in the Somali capital Mogadishu, al-Shabab militants appeared to recapture most of an important district there after clashes with African Union troops.

Journalists and witnesses tell VOA the al-Qaida-linked group retook the Daynile district, not long after Somali officials said pro-government forces and AU troops were in control.

Witnesses said al-Shabab publicly displayed the bodies of at least 60 AU soldiers said to be killed in the battle. An AU spokesman dismissed the public display as a propaganda tactic.

Al-Shabab controlled all but a few blocks of the capital just last year. But Somali forces and AU peacekeepers pushed them back. The militants pulled out from most parts of the city in August.

Kenya blames al-Shabab for kidnapping foreigners in Kenyan territory — an allegation it denies.