Kenyan police said in a report on Sunday that the attack was carried out in Garissa County, eastern Kenya, on the border with Somalia. The report added that attackers launched an assault around dawn on a camp housing police reservists and “used assorted weapons to overrun the camp”. “Six fatalities have been confirmed with four injured and in hospital,” it said.

While al-Shabab has not yet commented on the attack, the group frequently carries out cross-border operations against military and civilian targets. The attacks come a week after the United States embassy issued an advisory warning, cautioning travellers against visiting some places in Kenya, including Garissa County, along the border with Somalia, due to the threat of an attack. For years, al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaeda, has been fighting to overthrow Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule of law based on its interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. The latest attack comes after al-Shabab claimed responsibility for a roadside bomb near Somalia’s presidential palace on Tuesday.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack targeting the convoy and reaffirmed the UN’s support for Somalia’s people and government “in their fight against terrorism and in furthering efforts towards peace and stability”, said UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. The British Embassy in the capital, Mogadishu, also condemned the attack and reaffirmed support for Somalia’s counterterrorism efforts. “The UK remains a steadfast partner of the Somali government as they fight the violent extremists responsible for this despicable attack,” the embassy said in a statement. Earlier in March, al-Shabab fighters stormed a hotel in central Somalia, where government officials and tribal leaders were meeting to discuss efforts to control the group. Several people are reported to have died in the attack. (Al Jazeera/Reuters)