At last six killed, several injured in Al-Shabaab attack in NE Kenya

At least six people have been killed and several others injured on Friday when Al-Shabaab ambushed two commuter buses in the restive Mandera county near the Somalia border.

Mandera County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia said the two buses were heading to Mandera town from Nairobi when the militants sprayed bullets with passengers on board in Elwak area.

"Preliminary investigations indicate that at least six people have been killed and several others injured when suspected Al-Shabaab fighters attacked two passenger buses this morning. We will provide more details later," Shisia told Xinhua.

The latest incident comes after the authorities called on non-locals living in Mandera not to travel by bus until the end of the Ramadhan period due to security threats posed by Al-Shabaab militants.

The regional authorities said this was a temporary measure aimed at reducing tension and allow for the reorganization of security operations.

The authorities said the decision was taken due to the security situation in Mandera after the loss of five police officers on June 20 as they were escorting a bus in Kotulo.

Security in Mandera remains volatile with the militia who crossed over from their neighboring country responsible for the numerous attacks that have rocked the area.

This is not the first bus attack in the region.

Since the November 2014 incident where 28 people who were travailing from Mandera to Nairobi were killed by Al-Shabaab militants, the government stepped up its efforts to improve security among them having all buses coming to and from the area escorted by armed police officers.

Al-Shabaab then claimed responsibility for the dawn attack in a statement saying that it was revenge for the raids that were carried out by Kenyan security forces on mosques in Mombasa. Enditem