Gunmen kill one in Kenya's northeast
2013-02-07 16:44
Nairobi - Gunmen on Thursday shot dead one person and
wounded several others in Kenya's restive north-eastern Garissa region, police
said, the latest in a string of attacks.
The attackers opened fire on a vehicle as it drove in
Garissa town, which lies about 120km from the border with war-torn Somalia, and
where Kenyan troops are fighting Somali Islamist insurgents.
"It looks like the attackers were after the people in
the vehicle, because they just opened fire at them and escaped," regional
police chief George Losku said.
A police officer was shot dead in the town on Monday night.
Attacks have increased in Kenya since Nairobi sent soldiers
into Somalia in late 2011 to fight al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab insurgents, who have
vowed to take revenge on Kenya.
However, while the violence has been blamed on the
insurgents or their Kenyan supporters, the Shabaab have not claimed
responsibility for any of them.
Guns are common in the impoverished north-eastern region,
which hosts more than 500 000 Somali refugees.
Despite losing a string of key towns to African Union
troops, allied Somali forces and Ethiopian soldiers, the Shabaab are still
active in large areas of southern Somalia.
- SAPA
