An unknown number of Kenyan police officers were killed by al-Shabaab militants in the border town of Mandera during a raid early Thursday, officials said.

Police sources said the terrorists attacked a police camp in Arabia, Mandera town in northeast Kenya on Thursday dawn, and cut off police’s communication in the area.

Northeastern regional commander Mohamud Saleh confirmed the raid, saying they had sent a response team to check on casualties.

“There is no communication with officers on the ground but there was an attack there, teams are heading there,” Mr. Saleh said.

A regional government official, Eric Oronyi, said the unknown number of heavily armed attackers raided the police camp at around 3 a.m. local time Thursday (0000 GMT).

“We have sent reinforcements to the scene since communication has been cut off.

“We have not established the number of casualties or the exact damage but the situation is not good,’’ Mr. Oronyi said.

The incident came barely a week after Al-Shabaab militants overran a Kenyan military camp in southern Somalia under the Africa Union Mission in Somalia, killing nine Kenyan soldiers.

However, al-Shabaab claimed to have killed 57 Kenyan soldiers.

Report says a major manhunt for the Al-Shabaab attackers is currently underway in Somalia.