Two suspected members of Somalia's al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
group were also killed in the fighting, Garissa County Commissioner Rashid Khator said. The clash occurred near Liboi, a Kenyan town in the Garissa region about 15 km (10 miles) from the border.
Al-Shabaab has staged several raids targeting police and others in the border area in the past, and in September its hard boyz attacked a Nairobi shopping mall, killing at least 67 people.
The group said the Nairobi assault was to demand Kenya withdraw its troops from Somalia, where they are part of an African peacekeeping force that has fought the Islamist.
"Our officers were ambushed as they left Liboi on their way to Dadaab. They battled and killed two al-Shabaab (militants) who staged the attack," Khator told Rooters. Two other coppers were missing, he said.
Al-Shabaab grabbed credit for the ambush. It said it had killed eight members of the security forces and burnt vehicles.
Dadaab is the site of a vast camp for Somali refugees, who have fled over the years from the fighting and chaos at home.