Kenya official: Roadside bomb blows up passenger vehicle

A Kenyan official says a vehicle with 24 passengers has been blown up by an improvised explosive device in the country's north in a suspected extremist attack.

Mandera County commissioner Fredrick Shisia said Friday they are waiting for word on casualties. Shisia says the vehicle is a privately owned transport service along the Elwak-Mandera route.

Similar explosions in Kenya in the past month have killed at least 34 people, including 20 police officers. Suspicion has fallen on al-Shabab extremists from neighboring Somalia.

Analysts call the blasts a change in strategy by al- Shabab, which has been carrying out attacks inside Kenya since 2011. The extremist group has called the attacks revenge for Kenya sending troops to Somalia to fight it.