At least 14 people have been killed and 11 wounded in an attack in northeastern Kenya.
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Mandera County Commissioner Alex Ole Nkoyo has confirmed that the attack was carried out by al-Shabaab militants.
Somalia-based Islamic militant group al Shabaab has in the past carried out similar attacks, including one in December in the same county in which 36 quarry workers were killed. Kenya sent its troops to Somalia in October 2011 following a series of cross-border attacks including kidnappings which the government blamed on al-Shabab.
It is believed the victims were workers from a local quarry in Mandera county in the north-east of the country.
NAIROBI – At least 14 people were killed and 11 wounded on Tuesday when gunmen attacked a northern Kenyan village, close to the border with war-torn Somalia, officials and the Red Cross said.
“These were al Shabaab from the nature of the attack”.
The commissioner said an explosive device – something other than a hand grenade – was used to blow open a gate to the compound, after which the attackers entered and started shooting.
The incident happened in Soko Mbuzi village where non-locals and mostly quarry workers live. “I can confirm a Shebab attack in Mandera early this morning”, he said.
People from other parts of Kenya working in the north-east have threatened to leave the area following frequent al-Shabab attacks.
The group has stepped up attacks during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
In April, the Al-Qaeda-linked militants massacred 148 people at the region’s Garissa University, majority students.
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Gullet said four of the injured would be evacuated to the capital, Nairobi, medical treatment.
