Scores of rebel fighters threw grenades and other explosives as they raided the police camp late on Wednesday in Gerille, a town near the porous frontier with Somalia, Regional Commissioner Wenslas Ongayo said.
Kenya has tried to beef up security along the border since it sent troops into the anarchic Horn of Africa country in October to crush the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents.
Al Shabaab said it carried out the raid to avenge the "aggressive Kenyan invasion".
"Taken by surprise and unable to respond effectively to the attack, seven Kenyan administration police and government officials were immediately killed while others were taken prisoner," the militants said in an emailed statement.
Kenyan security forces were scouring the border area amid fears the hostages had been hauled across the border.
"Also seized during the raid were Kenyan vehicles, communication equipment and a cache of weapons," the militants said, adding they would later release the names of the prisoners.
Explosions and gunfire rang out across Gerille`s dusty wastelands, Ongayo said, before the assailants seized a government vehicle.
"They killed three administration police officers, a police reservist and two civil servants working with the registration department," Ongayo told Reuters by telephone.
A local councillor and an education official said that a primary school teacher had also been killed in the crossfire.
Three government officials were abducted, Leo Nyongesa, police chief for Northeastern province, told Reuters. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
