Six people were killed on Tuesday after suspected Al-Shabaab militants attempted to overrun a police post in Dadaab in Garissa County, Kenya, local media reported.
Among the six fatalities were four civilians and two suspected militants of the Islamist group.
The militants were suspected to have been targeting a communications mast in an area called Saretho, which is located about 25 kilometres away from the Dadaab refugee camp.
“The criminal gang had targeted the nearby telecommunication mast and in the process four innocent lives were lost, including that of a teacher and a small child, before our team that was on border patrol responded and contained the situation,” a statement from the National Police Service spokesman Charles Owino read in part.
Owino added that security has been increased following the incident which occurred at around 2.30am the morning.
“Security agencies have been mobilized and are pursuing the rest of the attackers.”
The statement further said that that two AK47 firearms, two IEDs and other crude weapons were recovered following the attack.
The attack comes two days after an attempted assault on a military base in Lamu County which killed three U.S. military personnel. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack which also saw four suspected militants killed.
Al-Shabaab has staged reprisal attacks against Kenya following the deployment of the Kenyan military in neighbouring Somalia in 2011 to fight the terrorist group.
