The authorities in Kenya say the country is being placed on high alert a day after twin bombs went off in the Ugandan capital Kampala and killed at least six people.
In a statement to the Kenyan public, government spokesman Cyrus Oguna urged vigilance over suspicious activities which could have security implications.
Kenyan security forces are being put on standby in anticipation of an attack by al-Shabaab, the Islamist militant sect fighting more than a decade-old insurgency in neighbouring Somalia.
The heightened state of alert in Kenya comes against the backdrop of the manhunt for three jailed terrorists who escaped from the maximum security prison in Kamiti, on the outskirts of Nairobi.
One of the three fugitives on the run has been identified as Mohamed Ali Abikar, who was convicted for the 2015 attack on the Garissa University campus which killed 148 people.
He was serving a 41-year jail term at the Kamiti maximum security prisons.
The other two escapees were jailed for terrorism-related crimes.
In the past Kenya has been targeted for devastating attacks by al-Shabaab which is opposed to its peacekeeping effort under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
The Somali insurgents have made no secret of their intention to “punish” all the troop-contributing countries to the AMISOM peacekeeping force including Kenya and Uganda.
The Islamic State which is an affiliate of Shabaab claimed responsibility for last month’s bombing of a bar in Kampala which killed a waitress and the latest blasts which rocked the city centre near the police headquarters.
Those killed in Tuesday’s blasts included three suspected suicide bombers.
WN/as/APA