Twenty-nine people have been killed in overnight attacks by gunmen in two counties on the Kenyan coast, the Kenya Red Cross said.
The Saturday night attacks took place in the towns of Hindi in Lamu county and Gamba in Tana River, Kenya Red Cross chief Abbas Gulet said. Al Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants from Somalia claimed responsibility for the attacks.
According to the Lamu county commissioner, a group of about 15 gunmen raided the Malamandi village of Hindi and started shooting at residents. The gunmen also attacked Gamba police station, Kenya's police chief said.
Hindi is about 25 miles north of Mpeketoni, where dozens were killed in an attack last month, while Gamba is about 43 miles north west of Mpeketoni.
Police were killed in both Hindi and Gamba.
The victims in Gamba included five inmates, who were killed when the gunmen attacked the police station, said a senior police officer. Three other inmates escaped with the gunmen.
The officer said the gunmen got to the police station by car-jacking a truck and killing its three occupants. Five police officers were wounded in the attack and one officer was killed, he said.
Kenya has suffered a spate of gun and explosive attacks since deploying its troops in October 2011 to fight al-Shabab militants.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an attack last month on the town of Mpeketoni on the Kenyan coast and another attack the following day on a nearby village. Despite that, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and the interior minister have blamed local political networks for those attacks and said they were planned locally.
Late last month police arrested Lamu Governor Issa Timamy and charged him for murder, forceful eviction of population and terrorism charges in connection to the Mpeketoni attacks.
The attacks come as tensions continued to rise in the country over a planned mass protest by the opposition on Monday to urge the government to convene national talks over topics including security, increasing costs of living, corruption and the disbandment of the electoral authority.
Church leaders have warned Monday's planned protest could further split the country along tribal lines.