Militants belonging to the Somali Al-Shabaab movement attacked a residential compound in the north-eastern Kenyan town of Mandera that is less than a kilometre away from the Somali border. Six people were killed in the attack which is the latest in a series carried out by the Al-Shabaab movement.

“We have suffered another sad attack,” the governor of Mandera county, Ali Roba, wrote on Twitter, saying six people had been confirmed killed. He was also quoted by Reuters as saying that “If not for the quick response by our security forces, we would be talking of many more casualties now” and that “From the nature and style of the attack, it will obviously be Al-Shabaab.”

The attack targeted a compound that was surrounded by high walls and is protected by security guards. It is located outside the town of Mandera which is the capital city of Mandera County in north-eastern Kenya. Mandera is also close to the borders with Somalia and Ethiopia.

A local security official Amb Mahmoud Saleh said that “the attackers used powerful explosives” to target the building and added “We very much suspect that they are rebel Al-Shabaab militants who crossed the border” between Somalia and Kenya “which is easy to cross”.

Al-Shabaab’s military operations spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab claimed responsibility for the attack and told Reuters “We are behind the Mandera attack in which we killed six Christians”, and added that they had also hit a police vehicle with a roadside bomb.