World Bulletin / News Desk

Five people, including a policeman, were killed late on Friday when suspected members of the Al-Shabaab movement attacked a bus near Witu, a market town in Kenya's coastal Lamu County, a security source said.

"The bus was headed for Lamu from Mombasa, Kenya's second largest city, when gunmen from the nearby Boni forest attacked passengers and a police escort," the security source who is based in Witu told Anadolu Agency.

He added that the attack took place minutes before 9:00pm.

"Four more passengers were seriously wounded and were immediately taken to hospital," the security source said.

The attack comes a day after Kenyan authorities said they had bombed a hideout of Al-Shabaab rebels near Witu.

Abdullah al-Habshy, the manager of the attacked bus company, said four passengers and a police escort were killed in the attack.

"Our office in Mombasa has been informed of the incident," al-Habshy said. "I can only confirm at this point that five people are already dead," he told AA.

Al-Shabaab is active in neighboring Somalia where it has been battling the Mogadishu government for control over several of the country's regions for years now.

In recent months, the movement has been blamed for most terrorist attacks and assassinations of government figures and members of parliament in Somalia.