A Muslim cleric was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Wednesday night in Ukunda, one of Kenya's prime coastal tourist spots, a local police officer said.

"It doesn't appear to be a normal robbery," Jack Ekakoro, a local police commander said Thursday. "He appears to have been a target of the attackers."

Salim Mwasalim, as the 60-year-old preacher was known, "was shot while walking home from the nearby mosque," he said.

"We're investigating to know the motive and get the attackers," he added, saying the killers had escaped on a motorbike.

Ukunda lies on the Indian Ocean, south of Mombasa.

Another muslim cleric Hassan Mwayuyu was gunned down under similar circumstances, also by gunmen on a motorcycle, in the same region on December 6.

A police source told AFP that Salim Mwasalim was on a police surveillance list for allegedly recruiting youths to fight alongside Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shehab.