Gunmen blow up security vehicle in N Kenya, injuring at least 4

Unknown gunmen blew up a Kenyan security vehicle in the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya, injuring at least four people, officials have confirmed. An eye witness at the refugee camp told Xinhua by telephone that the gunmen seemed to have been monitoring the police vehicle which was heading to the Dadaaab refugee camp to beef up security in the area following threats by Al-Shabaab militia of Somalia. "The gunmen had planted something like a bomb or remote- controlled explosive device which blew up the vehicle with four occupants being injured, two seriously," the witness told Xinhua. He said the incident took place along the Dadaab-Liboi road, about 2 km from the Garissa town on a checkpoint where vehicles from Nairobi assemble. However, local officials said the vehicle, belonging to the General Service Unit (GSU), the country's paramilitary police, was hit by an explosive believed to be either grenade or landmine. "Three of police officers were injured after the GSU vehicle was hit by explosive which we believe is either grenade or landmine near Garissa town," said a resident who did not want to be named. The latest incident came a day after bandits killed four senior education officials in northern Kenyan town of Mandera The four were killed when a vehicle in which they were traveling in while transporting examination materials to schools caught fire after being attacked by the bandits. Local residents said the attack was carried out by suspected Al- Shabaab militia. The attack also came as the east African nation has been on high alert since last week after Al-Shabaab insurgents threatened retaliatory attacks to protest Kenya's military incursion into Somalia targeting Al-Shabaab in the lawless country. Kenya sent troops into Somalia on Oct. 16 to help subdue Al- Shabab militants, which it blames for a series of cross-border kidnappings of foreigners in its territory. However, the Somali government has said it opposes the Kenyan intervention, telling Nairobi to restrict her assistance to providing logistics and training for the government soldiers. Analysts believe the military operation launched by Kenya after a spate of cross-border hijackings, the seizure of ship from within its territorial waters and the targeting of tourist havens, may actually revive the dormant terrorist cells.