Shebab claim deadly attack on Kenya bus, deny Somalia bomb

Nairobi (AFP) - Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab on Saturday claimed responsibility for an attack on a bus and police vehicle in Kenya's restive southeastern coast that killed at least seven people.

The group also denied involvement in a separate incident -- an alleged suicide bomb attack on a militia leader in Somalia that reportedly killed six people on Saturday.

The Kenyan Red Cross said five civilians and two police officers were killed in the Kenya shooting, which took place on Friday near the town of Witu -- about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the tourist island of Lamu.

Local authorities said four police officers were among the dead.

A Shebab spokesman told AFP by telephone the group was "ready to act or attack anywhere necessary within Kenya."

"The attacks are a clear response to the government of Kenya's false claim that they beefed up security in the area," said Shebab military spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab.

He added that the withdrawal of Kenyan troops from Somalia "is the only hope for a sort of normality."

According to police, gunmen opened fire on a bus as it travelled from Mombasa to the popular tourist island of Lamu. They then targeted a police car which stopped to intervene, and also hit a third car.

Authorities refused to comment on reports that several people from the bus have gone missing and may have been taken by the attackers.

Lamu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been hit by a series of attacks since mid-June which, according to the Red Cross, has left a total of 94 dead.

Somalia's Shebab has carried out similar attacks in the past, saying they were in retaliation for Kenya's military presence in Somalia as part of the African Union force supporting the country's fragile government.

The attacks have fuelled divisions on the coast, a region where radical Islam, ethnic tensions and land disputes are an explosive cocktail.

- 'We will continue fighting' -

Also on Saturday, a prominent militia leader in southern Somalia said a suicide bomber killed six people in an attack on his home, pinning the blame on Shebab.

Iftin Hassan Basto, a tribal leader who has fought with the Islamist group in the past, said a child was among those killed by the blast in the port city of Kismayo.

"The explosion occurred soon after I entered the house," Basto said in a statement. "My security guards saw a man who tried to infiltrate and when they confronted him he blew himself up."

"We knew (the Shebab) were planning such attacks and we will continue fighting these terrorists," he added.

One witness, Ali Mohamed, said: "The explosion was huge and several dead bodies were removed from the house. Security forces have cordoned off the area after the explosion."

But the Shebab were quick to deny involvement in the explosion, instead claiming that one of Basto's guards was responsible.

"There was no attack on his home, but his amateur guards fired a rocket launcher inside the house," Musab, the group's military spokesman told AFP.

Kismayo was a former stronghold of the Shebab before Kenyan troops captured it in late September 2012.

The Shebab have increased their scope of operations since last September, when they launched an attack on Nairobi's Westgate mall in which at least 67 people were killed.

In May the Shebab carried out a restaurant bombing in Djibouti, while Uganda and Ethiopia -- countries which also contribute to the AU force in Somalia -- have been on high alert.