NAIROBI (Reuters) - Five Kenyan soldiers were killed and 10 wounded on Wednesday when their car ran over a homemade bomb in northern Kenya, the military said.

A Kenya Defence Forces statement did not say who it believed was responsible for the attack in coastal Lamu County although it referenced “lurking terror elements” in the region.

On Aug. 8, five soldiers were killed in an attack claimed by the Somali group al Shaabab in Lamu, according to local officials.

The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab aims to topple Somalia’s U.N.-backed government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam. They have intensified attacks in Kenya since Nairobi sent troops into Somalia in 2011.

The group has launched several attacks, including ones in which they have beheaded people, in the past year in Lamu County. Kenyan security officials say the militants have used the Boni forest straddling the Kenya-Somalia border as a hideout and base for attacks.