Nairobi ( CNN ) -- Kenyan troops are pursuing suspected Islamic militants from Al-Shabaab across the border into Somalia , Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua told CNN Sunday . The move marks a dramatic shift in security tactics for the east African powerhouse , which is evoking the United Nations charter allowing military action in self-defense against its largely lawless neighbor . `` If you are attacked by an enemy , you have to pursue that enemy through hot pursuit and to try hit wherever that enemy is , '' said Defense Minister Yusuf Haji in a news conference aired on CNN affiliate NTV . Haji said repeatedly that the Kenyan military was ready to pursue `` terrorists '' inside the war-torn country . `` If a country is provoked and its territorial boundary is violated , a country has all the right to deal with the crisis wherever it is , '' said George Saitoti , the minister for Internal Security . Al-Shabaab , which is linked to al Qaeda and has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States , is fighting to impose its own interpretation of Islamic law , or sharia , on Somalia . Recent abductions of tourists and aid workers in Kenya have heightened tensions . On September 11 , armed bandits broke into a beachfront cottage where Britons Judith and David Tebbutt , both in their 50s , were staying . David Tebbutt was shot dead while trying to resist the attack . His wife was grabbed and spirited away onboard the pirates ' speedboat . She is believed to have been taken into Somalia . And on October 1 , pirates made another cross-border raid , this time snatching a French woman in her 60s from the holiday home on Manda Island where she lived for part of the year . Last week , gunmen abducted two Spanish workers for the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres ( Doctors Without Borders ) from the Dadaab refugee complex , about 80 kilometers from the Somali border . Kenya announced its new tactics less than a week after African Union forces claimed a victory against Al-Shabaab in Mogadishu , the Somali capital . They took the remaining Al-Shabaab strongholds in the far northeast of Mogadishu , the military said Monday . `` It has been a big achievement to remove Al-Shabaab from the city , and put an end to the fighting that disrupted so many lives , '' African Union Mission in Somalia ( AMISOM ) spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said . `` The challenge is now to protect civilians from the sort of terror attack we saw last week , as they attempt to rebuild their lives , '' he said . He was referring to a suicide truck bombing in the heart of Mogadishu that left dozens dead . Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility . Other Al-Shabaab attacks that week led to the deaths of at least 10 civilians . Federal and African Union forces in the impoverished and chaotic nation have battled the group for years . Many analysts believe AMISOM 's military push against Al-Shabaab has severely affected the group , along with targeted strikes against its members and the weakening of al Qaeda . Al-Shabaab said in August that it was withdrawing from Mogadishu , and Somalia 's Transitional Federal Government , backed by African Union peacekeepers , now controls most districts of the capital city , the United Nations office said . Forces have pushed Al-Shabaab outside most of Mogadishu , but the group is still a major threat , Ankunda said earlier .
NEW : Abductions of tourists , workers in Kenya have heightened tensions . Kenya is evoking its right to self - determination in sending troops into Somalia . Al - Shabaab is linked to Al Qaeda and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. African Union military observers said they drove Al Shabaab out of Mogadishu last week .