Twelve killed in attack in northeast Kenya

Twelve people have been killed in an attack in Mandera in northeast Kenya by suspected Islamist militants from the Somalia's al Shabaab group.

Privately-owned television stations Citizen and NTV and the privately-owned Daily Nation newspaper gave the same death toll for Tuesday's attack on the Bishaaro Guest House.

Pro-Shabaab media outlets say the attack "killed Christian Kenyans" who were not from the local area.

The dead included 10 people who had travelled to Mandera to stage performances in schools relating to books on the



curriculum, the Daily Nation newspaper reported.

The gunmen used grenades and improvised explosive devices to break into the guest house and then stormed in with guns, said Mohamed Saleh, Mandera's regional commander..

Al-Shabaab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops into Somalia since 2011 to fight the militants, who are waging an insurgency against Somalia's weak, Western-backed government.

Kenyan security forces have managed to stop the wave of al-Shabaab attacks in major cities in Kenya that have killed hundreds.