MOMBASA: A Kenyan police officer was killed and nine others wounded yesterday when suspected militants hurled a grenade at them during a house raid in a clash that left two assailants dead, police said.

The violence was the latest in a string of clashes and police raids on Kenya's coast, a popular tourist region where rebels have increasingly battled with security forces.

Regional police chief Aggrey Adoli told AFP several officers "were seriously injured," saying the attackers may be Kenyan supporters of neighboring Somalia's Shabab, an Al-Qaeda linked insurgent group. "One of the officers died in hospital...eight others are still in hospital," Adoli said. One officer was discharged.

"We have intensified the search for more suspects, we want to ensure the area is safe," he added.

Adoli said police had shot dead one of the attackers, while the other was killed by one of his own grenades.

The raid was carried out after a tip-off in the coastal Likoni region, just south of Kenya's main port Mombasa, and police recovered two firearms, two live grenades and ammunition, he said.

Kenyan police have in recent days launched a crackdown on members of the Mombasa Republican Council, a separatist group. On Monday two people were killed as police arrested MRC leader Omar Mwamnuadzi.

The latest violence has raised fears that political unrest could mar elections which are due to take place in March, five years after deadly post-poll killings shattered Kenya's image as a beacon of regional stability. The MRC claims that the predominantly Muslim coastal region is not part of Kenya and says it has been neglected by the central government.