Al-Shabaab Kills At Least 14 In Kenya Near End Of Monthlong "Walk Of Hope"

Al-Shaabab insurgents have claimed responsibility for the killing of at least 14 people in the Kenyan border town of Mandera on Monday.

The gun attack, which also left many people injured, took place near a military base. The town borders Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the south.

"All indications are that they were al-Shabaab militants," Mandera County Commissioner Alex Ole Nkoyo told the Standard Digital, a Kenyan news website. "They destroyed metal grilled doors before they bombed the houses and opened fire on the innocent victims."

For years, al-Shaabab extremists have been carrying out mass killings in Kenyan towns near the Somali border as the group tries to carve out a fundamentalist Islamic state in the region.

But this latest massacre bears special significance, because Mandera was the final leg of a month-long 800-kilometer march that started in the town of Garissa, where gunmen murdered 148 people earlier this year. The march, named "The Walk of Hope", was put together by residents in northeast Kenya to raise international awareness of the security challenges faced by the local population.

Al-Shabaab's latest attack also comes just weeks before U.S. President Barack Obama is to make an official visit to the east African country, the birthplace of his father.