The Ethiopian embassy, however, described the allegation that the militiamen were Ethiopian as "fiction" and said its country's militias do not cross the border.

The attack occured at Oiltipe Manyatta, Uran Division, about 180 kilometres from Moyale town on Thursday afternoon.

This brings to more than 150 the number of Kenyans killed in similar cricumstances.

The victims include five Administration Policemen, two regular police officers, one police reservist and two villagers. The body of one of the APs has not been recovered.

In its reaction, the government yesterday promised to "hit the bandits very hard" and said it will send a protest letter to the Ethiopian government. 

Minister in the Office of the President Marsden Madoka, who is in charge of internal security, said the government was disturbed by "frequent infiltration of militiamen from Ethiopia into the country". 

Acting Eastern Provincial Police chief Patrick Wandare said the officers were ambushed as they visited the manyatta to reassure villagers of security following a recent attack in which some villagers were abducted by bandits from across the border. 

An AP and scores of residents were injured in the attack. Other reports said that some villagers were missing. 

Yesterday, a contingent of security team comprising the army, regular and Administration Policemen was sent to the area to beef up security.

Mr Wandare said the officers, who were accompanied by Uran Divisional Officer and the local chief, were attacked by the foreign bandits as they walked towards the manyatta. 

"They met locals escaping saying they had been attacked again by the same people who abducted six men on Sunday," Mr Wandare observed.

In the Sunday raid, the militiamen abducted and interrogated six elders but released them unconditionally on Tuesday.

"The DO's team ran into an ambush," the police chief told the Nation by telephone.

"The security team was not expecting an attack considering they were on their side of the border." 

He said the deceased officers' guns had been recovered. 

Sources told the Nation the Ethiopian militia, locally known as Tabaka, was a pro-government force fighting to eliminate the Oromo liberation Front (OLF) whose members are said to have sought refuge in Kenya. 

The same militia is accused of having been behind the Bagalla massacre in which 124 people were slaughtered and 10,000 cattle stolen in October 1999.

Moyale MP Dr Guracha Galgalo accused the Ethiopian government of being behind the killings.

The Health assistant minister called on the government to deploy the army personnel at the border because the Ethiopians have a "habit of killing Kenyan civilians". 

"I don't understand why forces of a supposedly friendly country can do this without any provocation. It is barbaric and inconsistent with the spirit of good neighbourliness and it must stop," Dr Galgalo said.

However, Ethiopian embassy official Mengitsu Ayalew denied that the militia was allied to the government. "Ethiopian militiamen don't cross the border. This is fictitious," he said.

Mr Ayalew said his government resolved cross-border problems through bilateral mechanisms. "This is not the first time we are being accused by politicians."

Last year, Mr Madoka was quoted as blaming the OLF for some of the attacks. 

He said investigations could not rule out the involvement of OLF militia in the massacre at Degodia manyattas at Budhudha, Tulu, Roba and Mudane areas of Moyale District.

Yesterday, Mr Madoka said the militiamen might have been trailing the OLF.

"The OLF members escape to the country but we don't harbour them. These incidents recur because of the OLF," he observed.

He said security forces, including the military, had been sent after the attackers. 

Oiltipe is a sparsely populated manyatta with a population of about 300 people and is located five kilometres from Ethiopia. 

Last July, 15 people, one of them a police reservist, were killed and 300 animals stolen by bandits in the Bulukh border area of Marsabit District.

Mr Madoka said bad blood between communities and a porous border made it difficult to police the region. 

He said the government would "hit the bandits very hard if found on the Kenyan side again".

Reports said the Uran area was engulfed by fear after news of the attack went round.