Eight Kenyan police officials have been killed when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device planted by Somalia’s al-Shabab militant group, police say.

The terrorist outfit took eight weapons – six AK47 assault rifles and two G3 battle rifles – and 510 rounds of ammunition from the eight officers killed on Sunday in the east of the country, a police report said.

The al-Qaeda-aligned al-Shabab is fighting to topple Somalia’s government, establish their own rule and drive out of the country peacekeepers deployed by the African Union.

The group frequently launches attacks in neighboring Kenya to pressure it to withdraw its troops which form part of the peacekeeping force.

Charles Owino, Kenya’s police spokesman, told Reuters that the five administration police and three reservists were killed while protecting the country’s borders.

Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab’s military operations spokesman, said the group killed 10 Kenyan soldiers in the attack.

Earlier this month, five Kenyan police officers were killed in a similar attack in the same region.

(Source: Reuters)