Kenya: Six killed in suspected al-Shabab terror attack in Mandera

Attack: Police officers stand by dead bodies in Mandera.

REUTERS

6 October 2016

Six people have been killed and another wounded in an attack blamed on a militant Islamist group in Kenya.

Al-Shabab rebels are said to have used a grenade to get into a residential building in the town of Mandera, in the north east of the country, before opening fire.

The site of the attack is less than a mile from Kenya's border with Somalia, where the militant group is based.

They have carried out a series of attacks in Kenya as part of an ongoing conflict since Kenyan forces entered Somalia in October 2011 to fight against militants linked to al-Qaeda.

'Sad attack': Kenyan soldiers and Red Cross workers gather at the scene.

EPA

The governor of Mandera County, Ali Roba, said the security guards had managed to save 27 people during the attack, which happened in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Mr Roba said in a post online: “We have suffered another sad attack.”

He told Reuters news agency: "If not for the quick response by our security forces, we would be talking of many more casualties now."

The government in Kenya issued a terror alert in March and said parts of Mandera were likely to be targeted.

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Kenya: Six killed in suspected al-Shabab terror attack in Mandera

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