One person was killed and three others injured on Monday evening in a suspected Al Shabaab attack on an ambulance in the border town of Hulugho, Garissa County in northeastern Kenya.

Confirming the incident, northeastern Regional Coordinator Mohamud Saleh said the ambulance driver died on the spot while three others on board suffered slight injuries.

The ambulance was heading to Hulugho Sub-County Hospital to pick up a patient when it ran over a home-made bomb.

The incident happened less than 12 hours after another suspected terrorist attack claimed the lives of five police officers in Mandera.

The officers were escorting a passenger bus when they were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

READ: Five Kenyan officers killed in grenade attack in Mandera

Mr Saleh said that the militants had been sighted along the border since the start of the holy month of Ramadhan and are targeting soft spots in the area.

“The vehicle they were travelling in hit an improvised explosive device that we believe must have been planted on the road long time ago; the driver died but three others are out of danger and there was not much damage to the ambulance,” said the regional boss.

“As you can see, they are targeting border areas because they are not frequently used and not busy as such but we have intensified our security operations to ensure Al-Shabaab operatives are smoked out,” he added.

According to a statement from the Garissa governor's office, the driver of the ambulance was identified as Abey Dubow Mohamed while those injured were Kassim Ahmed, a community health nutritionist, Mohamed Yussuf, a student at Hulugho Secondary School, and Farah Abdi.

While condoling with the family of the bereaved, the county government said the vehicle was en route to pick up a patient for referral to Garissa County Referral Hospital when it ran over the explosive between Sangailu and Hulugho sub-counties.

“I would like to condemn in the strongest terms the cowardly, hateful and un-Islamic act which resulted in the death of our able driver.

“On behalf of the people of Garissa, I also wish to convey my deepest condolence to the family and friends of Mr Abey Mohamed, who died while diligently executing his duties for Garissa County government,” read the statement.