Suspected Shebab Kill Five in Kenya Bomb Attack

Suspected militants from the Somali-led Shebab Islamist group killed at least five people in a roadside bomb attack, police said Tuesday.

The attack on a police truck took place on Monday in the eastern coastal county of Lamu, which borders Somalia and has been hit by a wave of attacks by the al-Qaida linked group.

"Five people were killed in the attack, including a mother and her child," Lamu police chief Chrispus Mutali said, adding that five others were wounded in the attack.

All those killed were reportedly civilians who had been given a lift by the police, while the officers escaped unharmed.

Shebab militants have recently been blamed for a string of security incidents in the Lamu area, including attacks on passenger buses and a failed raid on a military base last month.

The militant group is believed to have fighters operating in the area's Boni forest.

In mid-June 2014, close to 100 people were killed in a series of armed assaults on the town of Mpeketoni and surrounding villages in Lamu county.

These attacks, close to the once-popular holiday island of Lamu, led to a collapse in tourism on Kenya's coast after foreign governments warned their nationals against travel to the area.