Death toll in coastal Kenya attacks jumps to 29

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MOMBASA, Kenya (REUTERS) - Gunmen killed at least 29 people in raids on two separate areas on the Kenyan coast, the interior ministry said on Sunday.

The Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab, which attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi last September, said it had staged an attack on Saturday evening in the coastal area.

Nine people lost their lives at the Hindi trading centre in Lamu county, near the scene of attacks in which 65 people were killed last month, Mwenda Njoka, the ministry's spokesman told Reuters.

Another 20 people were killed in another attack in the Gamba area of neighbouring Tana River county. Both counties are situated north of the port of Mombasa. "There were two attacks in Lamu and Tana River last night. In Lamu we have nine people dead and in Tana River we have 20. The number could rise," Njoka said by telephone.