Two university employees were killed and two police officers and a driver injured on Tuesday morning when unknown gunmen fired on a vehicle close to Diani, a popular coastal tourist resort in Kenya.

The car was transporting officers and staff members from Diani to the Technical University of Mombasa's nearby Kwale campus when gunmen opened fire on Tuesday morning.

“The officers were escorting university staff members when they were ambushed by the gunmen who killed two and wounded three including two officers,” said regional police chief Larry Kieng.

Kieng said the two university workers died at the scene while the wounded have been taken to the hospital. After the attack, a silver sedan car was left riddled with bullet holes and abandoned on the side of a narrow dirt road about two kilometres from the university.

No students were reported injured in the attack.

AK47 rifles used

Kieng said an investigation was underway with police searching for the assailants, who used AK47 rifles, and that militants, as well as bandits, were among the suspects.

A month ago suspected militants attacked a church in the area killing two police officers and stealing their rifles.

Kenya's coast attracts foreign and domestic tourists but has been affected in recent years by fears of radicalisation of the predominately poor Muslim residents by militants linked to Somalia's Shabaab.

A series of attacks has also hit visitor numbers with some foreign governments warning their citizens against travelling to Kenya's coast.

However, most terror attacks on Kenya's coast have occurred much further north, towards the border with Somalia.