Gunmen kill 22

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

People watch the site where gunmen attacked outside the Gamba police station in Gamba, Kenya, Sunday, July 6, 2014. (AP Photo)

 Twenty-two people were killed in overnight attacks by gunmen in two counties on the Kenyan coast, where al-Qaida-linked militants last month claimed responsibility for killing 65 people, the Kenya Red Cross said Sunday.

The Saturday night attacks took place in the towns of Hindi in Lamu county and Gamba in Tana River, Kenya Red Cross chief Abbas Gulet said. Al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants from Somalia claimed responsibility for the attacks.

According to the Lamu county commissioner Njenga Miiri, a group of about 15 gunmen raided the Malamandi village of Hindi and started shooting at residents. The gunmen also attacked Gamba police station, Kenya's police chief David Kimaiyo said.

Hindi is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Mpeketoni where dozens were killed in an attack last month, while Gamba is about 70 kilometres (43 miles) northwest of Mpeketoni.

Police said 13 people were killed in Hindi, while in Gamba nine others were killed and one person was missing.

The nine victims in Gamba included five inmates said to be non-Muslim, who were killed when the gunmen attacked the police station, said a senior police officer who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media. Three other inmates escaped with the gunmen.

The officer said the gunmen got to the police station by car-jacking a truck and killing its three occupants. Five police officers were wounded in the attack and one officer was killed, he said.

Kenya has suffered a spate of gun and explosive attacks since deploying its troops in Oct. 2011 to fight al-Shabab militants.