Nairobi, July 7 (IANS): At least 14 people were killed and 12 others injured when Al Shabaab militants opened fire near a market in Kenya, police said on Tuesday.

Mandera county commissioner Alex Ole Nkoyo said unidentified gunmen hurled grenades into a residential building located near a livestock market in Mandera county in Kenya.

Sources said the militants first hurled several Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) before opening fire on workers of a quarry nearby, who were sleeping, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Thirteen men and one woman, mostly construction workers, were killed in the attack. The 12 injured were taken to a nearby hospital," he said.

"Those killed were caught unawares. The attackers shot in the air several times and even used petrol bombs to carry out the attack. Most people were sleeping in tents outside their houses because the temperature in Mandera is very high," Nkoyo added.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks in the county and was blamed on Al Shabaab militants who had earlier executed more than 200 people in the region.