Nairobi, Dec 12 (IANS/EFE): A policeman was killed and two others injured when gunmen opened fire in the region of Kilifi on the Kenyan coast, authorities said Friday.

"We lost a police officer in the attack," Kilifi County Commissioner Albert Kobia told Capital FM radio station.

The attack, which took place late Thursday, coincided with Kenyan Independence Day to mark 51 years since the East African nation gained freedom from British colonial rule.

"They were attacked by a gang that opened fire at the station," Kobia said.

The assault was the latest in a series carried out in recent months in the country, mainly in coastal areas and in the border cities with Somalia.

The Kenyan police responded recently to the attacks in Mombasa with a large-scale security campaign in the city's mosques, where hundreds of youths were arrested for their alleged ties to the Somali Islamic terrorist group, Al Shabaab.

The Kenyan coast has been traditionally one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country but the wave of terrorist attacks since early this year has drastically reduced the number of visitors.

Although no group immediately claimed the latest assault, such incidents are usually blamed either on Al Shabaab which launches attacks in Kenya for its deploying of troops in Somalia, or on the separatist Mombasa Republican Council.