Suspected Somali gunmen attack refugee camp in Kenya, no injuries

Suspected militants from Somalia attacked the world's largest refugee camp in northern Kenya in the latest string of attacks after killing three people and injured several others in the two days. Police officers and witnesses said on Thursday night that attacks at the Ifo northern camp in Dadaad had targeted an international aid organization staff residence in the refugee camp, which is one among the five open air complex camps in region. There was no injury. Dadaab District police commander, Kalicha Roba said the assailants, believed to be Al-Shabaab militia, were armed with sophisticated explosives and other firearms. Roba said they stormed the camp of Islamic relief organization before shooting indiscriminately around the camp. "The attackers who we suspected to be members of Al-Shabaab or their sympathizers raided the organization camp at around 8:30 p.m. [20:30hrs]. They used explosives to break into the fortified compound through the metallic gate," Roba said on Friday. Kenya hosts an estimated 650,000 refugees from the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. Somali refugees in Kenya are estimated at 500,000 and the number has increased due to turmoil and recurrent droughts in the horn of Africa state. The latest attack by the radicals who seem to have renewed their trademark explosive hurling raids on Kenya comes barely two days after similar simultaneous raids in the board town which left two security officers and a civilian killed. Six others were injured and several vehicles burnt down. "Fortunately no one was injured in the raid that took some minutes since most of the staff in the compound who were mainly teachers took cover and hid within the big compound immediately the first explosive to open the compound was fired by the militia, " Roba added. The local police chief said apart from slight damages caused by the bullets and the main gate which was brought down by the explosives, the compound facilities were not affected, adding that security around the five refugees' camps was beefed up. "Our officers are pursuing the assailants within the camps, while those stationed at the border entrance point were on high alert to make sure that the culprits don't escape beyond our borders before they were caught up with," Roba assured. Kenya has experienced dozens of attacks by unidentified people involving shootings, grenades, and other explosives since the East African nation launched cross border incursion into southern Somalia two years ago. Most of the attacks have been in Kenya's northern region near the Somali border, but some have been in Mombasa and Nairobi.