Gunmen stormed a hospital on Saturday night and seriously injured an Ethiopian in-patient in apparent revenge for the recent killings in Moyale District.

The woman was shot at the Sololo Mission Hospital on a day that saw four other people injured in demonstrations.

Sources said the gunmen alleged that the woman was a spy and feigning sickness.

She was said to be a mother of nine suffering from kidney problems.

Elsewhere, four people believed to be Ethiopian nationals were dragged from a truck by hundreds of demonstrating residents and beaten.

Police said the demonstrators blocked the path of vehicles travelling from Moyale to Nairobi and those from Nairobi were denied entry into the region.

The four, who were on their way to Moyale, were attacked at Sololo-Makutano. Reports said the injured sought refuge at the Makutano police barrier on the Moyale-Marsabit highway.

The residents were angered by what they termed "government inaction'' after Ethiopian militiamen killed 10 Kenyans, among them eight policemen.

In its reaction to the Thursday killings, the Government promised to "hit the bandits very hard'', adding that it will send a protest letter to the Ethiopian Government.

Mr Marsden Madoka, the Minister in the Office of the President in charge of Internal Security, said the Government was disturbed by "frequent infiltration of militiamen from Ethiopia''.

The victims included five Administration Police officers, two regular police officers, one reservist and two villagers. One AP is missing. It is feared that he may have been abducted by the militiamen.

The security team was ambushed at a manyatta in Kiltipe as it reassured residents of security following a recent attack in which villagers were abducted by bandits from across the border.

Yesterday, more military and police personnel were deployed at the border.

Meanwhile, in Nairobi, four pistols have been recovered from injured gangsters. Also recovered are 16 rounds of ammunition from two gangsters injured during a robbery shoot-out in Biashara Street on Saturday.

Central Police Station chief Sammy Maritim said three other suspects escaped with an unknown amount of cash.

Five gangsters stormed a shop and ordered customers to lie down before frisking them. Mr Maritim said the customers claimed they lost about Sh20,000. City police arrested two gangsters who shot dead a city engineer on Temple Road.

Police said the gangsters have been involved in a number of robberies in the city.