Four People Killed, Chinese National Missing After Al-Shabaab Attack in Lamu

Four people were killed following an attack by Al-Shabaab militants on a construction site in Lamu County on Friday.

Reports indicate that one Chinese national also went missing following the attack that occurred in the Bodhei Majengo area.

The victims include workers constructing the highway from the Lamu Port to Ethiopia and South Sudan, according to police.

The assailants also set one construction vehicle and a motorbike on fire during the attack. They also destroyed a bridge that was under construction at the Majengo-Omolo area.

Al-Shabaab has since claimed responsibility for the attack, saying six people, including a Chinese national, were killed.

Lamu County lies close to the Somali border and has suffered frequent Al-Shabaab attacks, often conducted with roadside bombs.

Al-Shabaab fighters have been staging frequent attacks in the country in retaliation for Kenya sending troops into Somalia as part of an African Union force to degrade the jihadists.

The al-Qaeda-linked group is seeking to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu and controls swathes of southern Somalia from where it regularly launches attacks in Somalia, Kenya and elsewhere.