Johnstone Limo, the deputy police chief of Garissa town, some 300 kilometres (185 miles) east of the capital Nairobi, late Saturday in a rampage blamed by locals on a searing drought in the region that has forced the cats to venture into inhabited areas for food.

"We have information that four children have been killed and 34 goats. Local residents told us that 10 lions attacked a homestead and killed the children, who were sleeping," Limo told AFP.

"One of the children is just a month old," he added.

Limo said the lions also injured three other people in a nearby homestead, while a fourth child has been hospitalised with wounds sustained in the attack.

"We have alerted the Kenya Wildlife Services over this incident, and they have told us they will take action," he said.

Last month, four people were killed when lions attacked their village in the same region.

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