Gunmen kill dozens in attack on Kenya mine attack

At least 36 people have been killed in an attack on a stone quarry in Mandera, northern Kenya, local sources told Al Jazeera.

Gunmen opened fire at the quarry in the early hours of Tuesday morning after separating Muslims and non-Muslims, sources said.

The dead are reportedly miners who were working in the quarry, located just outside the town.

Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi, reporting from Nairobi, said that the Red Cross was on the scene and that the military and army were heading to the site, which is just 5km from the border with Somalia.

“We are being told that many of the people who work in the quarry are not from Somalia, but at this time we cannot verify who has been killed,” she said.

“This comes at a time when security in Mandera has been beefed up because of recent attacks. We just returned from Mandera and the security forces there assured us they are in control of the situation, but they said that the border there is also very porous.”

The scene of the latest attack is about 30km from the November 22 raid on a bus in which 28 non-Muslims were separated from the Muslim travellers before being executed.

Armed group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the bus attack, but as yet no claim has been made for the killings in Mandera.

The shooting in the quarry comes after an attack on a night club in the Kenyan town of Wajir on Monday night.

One person was killed and at least 12 injured as gunmen hurled grenades and sprayed bullets at the building, the government said.