People gather at the scene of an attack in the town of Mandera, Kenya, near the border with Somalia, on Tuesday. (AP/AP)

Twelve people, described as “non-Muslims,” were killed early Tuesday morning in Kenya's northeastern town of Mandera in a suspected terror attack by the Somali militant group al-Shabab.

The extremist group has for years conducted cross-border attacks in Kenya, partly in retribution for Kenya's decision to send troops to Somalia as part of an African Union military campaign. Mandera, a predominantly Muslim border town nestled between the Ethio­pian and Somali frontiers, has been a frequent target, and many of its residents have fled.

According to Abdi Rizak, a member of the Mandera county assembly, Tuesday's attack occurred at a guesthouse called Busharo at 1:30 a.m, several miles from the border.

Kenya's deputy police spokesperson Jared Ojuok said that suspected al-Shabab militants used explosives to blow up the front door of the guest house and then detonated another bomb-like device inside.

Immediate reports from the ground indicated that about 12 were killed in the aftermath of the explosion and four people were rushed to the hospital with injuries from crumbling bricks.

A member of the security forces walks near the scene of an attack in the town of Mandera, Kenya, near the border with Somalia, on Tuesday. (AP)

Rizak, speaking from Mandera, said some people were leaving the town because they were afraid.

"They live in fear. Every night people hear guns around the town," he said, adding that only non-Muslims were targeted in Tuesday's attack. The victims were visitors from Nairobi.

"They want to divide the country every time they do something," said Rizak.

Since last night's attack, there has been a heavy security presence in Mandera.

Mandera has experienced frequent al-Shabab attacks in which dozens of civilians and security personnel have been killed.

In July this year, at least six people were killed when suspected al-Shabab militants sprayed two buses with bullets.

In December 2015, a group of Kenyans travelling on a bus from Nairobi to Mandera was ambushed by al-Shabab gunmen. The Muslims in the bus protected Christian passengers by refusing to be split into groups. At least two people were killed in that attack.

In November 2014, 28 people in another attack on a Nairobi-bound bus near Mandera.

In one of its most devastating attacks, masked al-Shabab militants stormed Garissa University in eastern Kenya last year and killed 147 people.

“Al-Shabab is imposing a total economic sanction on Mandera’s people. We cannot allow this to happen,” Mandera Governor Ali Roba told the Kenyan newspaper The Standard back in July.

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