FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 file photo, hundreds of newly trained al-Shabab fighters perform military exercises in the Lafofe area some 11 miles south of Mogadishu, in Somalia. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File)
Kenyan officials said that at least 48 people were killed by Islamist militants Sunday in a town not far from a coastal resort popular with Western tourists.
David Kimaiyo said Monday the gunmen targeted two hotels, a bank and a police station in the town of Mpeketoni. Kenyan officials said at least two of the hotels were set on fire. It was not immediately clear how many attackers were involved, but a police spokeswoman said it was believed that "several dozen" took part.
Sky News reported that the gunmen's assault began at approximately 8 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Eastern Time) and gunshots were heard four hours later. Cafes and bars in the town were reportedly packed with people watching the World Cup soccer match between Switzerland and Ecuador. Kenya's National Disaster Operations Center said military surveillance planes were launched shortly afterward.
One police commander said that as residents were watching the World Cup at the Breeze View Hotel, the gunmen pulled the men aside and ordered the women to watch as they killed them. The attackers told the women that that's what Kenyan troops are doing to Somalia men inside Somalia. The police commander insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to share that detail of the attack.
Kenya's Interior Ministry said the gunmen arrived in two hijacked minivans. An army spokesman told Sky News that the Al Qaeda-linked, Somalia-based terror group al-Shabaab is likely behind the attack, though no group has claimed responsibility.
Al-Shabaab has been blamed for a number of attacks in retaliation for Kenya's deployment of troops in neighboring Somalia, where the group has been trying to seize power. Most notably, al-Shabaab was thought to behind last September's attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall, in which 67 people were killed.
The U.S., U.K., France, Australia, and Canada have all recently upgraded their terror threat warnings for the country.
Mpeketoni is about 30 miles southwest of the tourist center of Lamu. Tourism in Mpeketoni is mostly local, with few foreigners visiting the region. The town is about 60 miles from the Somali border and 360 miles from Nairobi.
Lamu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the country's oldest continually inhabited town. The region saw a spate of kidnappings of foreign tourists in 2011 that Kenya said was part of its motivation for attacking Somalia. Since those attacks and subsequent terror warnings tourism has dropped off sharply around Lamu.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Click for more from Sky News
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