NAIROBI, Kenya — Seven people were killed when gunmen attacked a bus on the Kenyan coast where previous attacks had left scores of people dead, the Kenya Red Cross said Saturday.
The attack Friday night occurred in an area called Corner Mbaya, which is 3 miles from the coastal town of Witu in Lamu cCounty, the humanitarian group said. Authorities believe many of the passengers who were on the 52-seat bus traveling from Mombasa to Lamu town, fled into a nearby forest.
Al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants from Somalia claimed responsibility for the attack.
Police Chief David Kimaiyo issued a dusk-to-dawn curfew for Lamu County and declaredprohibited residents from the Boni forests as well as adjoining forests prohibited. The areas are believed to be the gunmens’ hideout. Those found in the forests will be arrested, Kimaiyo said. He ordered buses to travel with armed escorts.
Police officers engaged in a shootout with the gunmen attacking the bus, leading to the deaths of three police officers and four civilians, Kimaiyo said. Three civilians and one police officer were wounded in the gunfight, he said.
Lamu County Commissioner Miiri Njenga said gunmen used a stolen saloon car to block the road and stop the bus.
Patricia Mbuvi, who was traveling in the bus, was injured by broken glass. She said the gunmen wore masks and outfits that looked like police uniforms, and started shooting at the bus when it stopped.
Al-Shabab said the attackers were sending a message to Kenya that theyit cannot stop the group’s operations in coastal areas.
“The attack was carried out in response to the Kenyan government’s claim that all the areas that have recently been subject for attacks were secured after having deployed troops,” the group said.
Al-Shabab has vowed to carry out attacks on Kenyan soil to avenge the presence of Kenyan troops fighting the militants in Somalia. In September, four al-Shabab gunmen attacked an upscale mall in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, killing 67 people. Another attack, at Mpeketoni in Lamu cCounty in mid-June, left at least 60 people dead.
The militant group has also claimed responsibility for previous attacks along the coast, but the Kenyan government claims local political networks are responsible.
The recent attacks led the British government last week earlier this month to expand the travel warnings for the Kenyan coast. British citizens have been asked avoid all but essential travel to Lamu county, and Tana River countiescounty and the Tana River itself.
Earlier travel advisories warned against travel to areas within 40 miles of the Kenya-Somalia border, the Somali enclave known as Eastleigh in Nairobi and Mombasa iIsland.
The government fears that tourism, Kenya’s biggest foreign-currency earner after tea, will be affected negatively by the travel advisories issued by the U.S. and Britain followingafter attacks. Arrivals of holidaymakerstourists hashad already fallen by 18 percent to 1.4 million last year.
Kenya’s opposition coalition, known as the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy, is demanding the withdrawal of the country’s troops from Somalia, saying the government is not serious about tackling al-Shabab.
Elsewhere on Friday, Mombasa High Court Judge Edward Mureithi urged Kenyan Chief Justice Willy Mutunga to form a special bench of criminal judges to handle cases arising from the attacks at the coast. Mureithi made the call as he granted a prosecution request to cancel bail for Dyana Salim Suleiman, the alleged purported driver of a van used in the attack on Mpeketoni. Suleiman has denied any involvement in the attack.
Mahadi Swaleh Mahadi, a Malindi-based businessman, has also denied charges brought against him on July 9 of 60 counts of murder in Mpeketoni. His bail application will be heard July 21Monday.
Information for this article was provided by Tom Odula and Abdi Guled of The Associated Press and by Joseph Burite and Paul Richardson of Bloomberg News.