8 killed in bus attack

NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Several police officers were among at least eight people killed in an attack on a bus in northeast Kenya believed to have been staged by the Somali Islamist Shebaab group, a presidential spokesman said Saturday.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta had been briefed on the “brutal” murders of eight people, including police, during the jihadist attack in Wajir county, the spokesperson said in a statement.

“We lost seven police officers in the bus attack,” a senior police source told AFP.

“The total number of the people killed are 10. One was identified as a local doctor,” the source said.

A police statement released Friday evening gave no casualty toll, just noting the bus, which linked the towns of Wajir and Mandera, came under attack about 17:30 local time (1430 GMT).

“Security forces are pursuing the killers,” the state house spokesperson said, adding, “the government will not relent in its ruthless crackdown on criminal elements including suspected terrorists.”

The area where the attack took place borders Somalia, which is regularly the scene of Shebaab raids.