One person has been killed and several people injured in a blast at a nightclub in the Kenyan city of Mombasa.

The target of the attack on Monday was Bella Vista sports bar in a street known for its nightlife in Mombasa, a popular holiday destination for Kenyans and foreigners.

Police said the attackers tried to force their way into the club, but were barred at the gate by guards. They then shot at random and hurled grenades.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but a gun has been recovered from the scene.

A pool of blood marked the entrance to the club, and spent cartridges and grenade shells were strewn near its gate. Some cars nearby were riddled with shrapnel marks.

Two of the guards were among those injured, and police said one of them, a woman, died of her wounds in hospital.

"There is one dead and five others injured. We believe the dead person, a lady, was one of the guards at the gate," Ambrose Munyasia, the region's top criminal investigation officer who was at the scene told Reuters news agency.

More than 10 people have been killed in a series of attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa since Kenyan troops launched their incursion into southern Somalia.

Earlier on Tuesday, a suspected remote-controlled bomb went off in Kenya's Dadaab refugee complex near the Somali border, killing a police officer and wounding three.

The country is already forecasting earnings from tourism, one of its big three hard currency sources, will fall this year, in part because of travel warnings over the threat from Somali fighters.

Authorities often blame the fighters for the violence and kidnappings.