A third victim, the owner of the shop, is admitted in hospital with a bullet lodged in his head. Police said he is in a stable condition, according to local media reports.

North Eastern police boss Philip Tuimur said no arrest has been made following the Sunday evening incident near the border with Somalia.

The victims are said to have been seating outside the shop in the company of a fourth man who apparently survived after excusing himself for a while, the Standard newspaper reported.

“After the man left, gunmen arrived and confronted the deceased pulling the trigger into their head at close range and escaped without stealing anything from them. We believe the motive was to kill the soldier,” said a senior officer in the area who asked not to be named.

Police arrived at the scene moments later but no arrest was made. The incident came two weeks after three soldiers were ambushed and killed as they attended to a puncture in the town prompting a crackdown and protest that led to destruction of property.

A suspect was arrested in connection with the soldiers’ killing and is facing various charges.

A parliamentary team is currently investigating the incident. The attacks are linked to last year’s decision by Kenyan troops to cross to Somalia to hunt for Al-Shabaab militants who had been blamed for various insecurity incidents in the country.