Nairobi – Suspected militants from the Somali-led al-Shabaab Islamist group killed at least five people in a roadside bomb attack, police said on Tuesday.

The attack on a police truck took place on Monday in the eastern coastal county of Lamu, which borders Somalia and has been hit by a wave of attacks by the al-Qaeda linked group.

“Five people were killed in the attack, including a mother and her child,” Lamu police Chief Chrispus Mutali said, adding that five others were wounded in the attack.

All those killed were reportedly civilians who had been given a lift by the police, while the officers escaped unharmed.

The militant group is believed to have fighters operating in the area’s Boni forest.

In mid-June 2014, close to 100 people were killed in a series of armed assaults on the town of Mpeketoni and surrounding villages in Lamu County.

These attacks, close to the once-popular holiday island of Lamu, led to a collapse in tourism on Kenya’s coast after foreign governments warned their nationals against travel to the area.

Source: AFP