NAIROBI, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police on Wednesday urged citizens to be extra vigilant during the month of Ramadan.

Police spokesman Charles Owino said security will be beefed up to secure mosques for Muslims to conduct their prayers peacefully and to avert possible al-Shabab attacks on churches.

"For a peaceful Ramadan and the subsequent Eid festivities, security agencies have deployed officers around areas of interest within our cities and areas near the Kenya-Somalia border," Owino said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The statement came as the Muslim community in Kenya observe the holy month of Ramadan.

More police officers have been deployed for enhanced patrols, Owino said, urging Kenyans to exercise a high degree of vigilance and to report any suspicious persons or activities to authorities.

Terror attacks have previously been witnessed in the country during Ramadan, he said.

During Ramadan in June 2014, 150 people were killed when al-Shabab militants infiltrated Kenya and attacked coastal villages in Lamu and Tana River counties.

Al-Qaida-allied al-Shabab has vowed to attack Kenya after the east African nation made a cross-border incursion into Somalia in 2011 to flush out insurgents it blamed for kidnappings of tourists.