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Militants attack Chinese road construction site in Kenya

Kenyan police fought off an attack on a Chinese construction site in Kenya Sunday, 20 January, launched by suspected Somali militants of the al-Shabaab group.

Four people were injured in the gunfight, reports newspaper The Citizen. 

Police repulsed attackers from the camp, near the town of Garissa near the Somali border, operated by a Chinese firm building the Garissa-Modogashe highway, Reuters said.

"The attackers were repulsed since the security officers were very alert. There was exchange of fire before the attackers escaped," county police commander David Kerina told Reuters, adding that one injured person was a watchman’s wife.

"I believe the attackers, who were armed, might be Somali militants," Kerina said. "They fled, but we have intensified security operations. So far no arrest has been made."

The attack came days after al-Shabaab group killed 21 people at the Dusit hotel complex in the capital Nairobi.

A suicide bomber and four gunmen with the Al-Qaeda affiliate stormed the hotel and office complex, leading to a 20-hour siege in which 700 civilians were rescued and another 28 injured.

Image: Street scene at Garissa, Kenya (Adam H T Geelle/CC BY 3.0)

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