Suspected Al-Shabaab fighters have beheaded there people and torched houses in dawn attack on Maleli Village of Witu in Lamu.
Villagers and sources on the ground put the figure at four but County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo told the Informer that the report he had received indicated three.
Mr Kitiyo said he had dispatched a contingent of police officers to pursue the attackers.
The gunmen struck at around 12.30am Friday as the villagers slept, according to witnesses.
Armed to the teeth, they targeted men as they spared women and children, villagers told the Informer.
They disappeared into the bushes as has been their tactic in past attacks.
The government believes the militants have set up hideouts in the expansive and dense Boni Forest and a multi-agency operation is ongoing to flush them out.