NAIROBI
Kenyan authorities have confirmed the killing of ten people, including five policemen, in the Mandera County near the borders with war-torn Somalia.
"Four pick-ups that were transporting miraa (khat) to Mandera from Meru were ambushed by bandits who set one of the vehicles on fire and fled with two vehicles towards Somalia while the fourth vehicle managed to escape from the scene," Police Inspector General David Kimaiyo said in a statement.
He added that police officers who pursued the bandits were ambushed.
Five officers and two civilians were killed in an ensuing shootout, said the inspector general.
Separately, three people were killed and three seriously injured in clashes between the two Kenyan Somali clans of Garree and Degodia in Takaba area of Mandera.
Mandera is located near Somalia's Gedow region, the scene of ongoing clashes between the Al-Shabaab militant group and the Somali army.
Al-Shabaab has attacked a police station and two power stations in Mandera in the past two weeks.
"The people of Mandera feel they are at the mercy of Al-Shabaab," Salah Maalim, an MP in the Mandera County Parliament, told Anadolu Agency by phone.
"What we need is a permanent presence of armed forces in our county," he added.
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