The Somalia-based armed group al-Shabab has said it carried out a deadly attack on a town in Kenya in which 48 people were killed and several buildings burned down.

In a statement sent to Al Jazeera on Monday, the group said that the attacks would continue, adding that the Kenyan government was "fighting a losing war" and telling tourists to stay away.

The group said they targeted the coastal town of Mpeketoni on Sunday because it was originally a Muslim area that was "invaded and occupied by Christian settlers".

"The prospect of peace and stability in Kenya will be but a distant mirage," the statement said. "Brace yourself for the depredations of war and that which you have with your hands sown."

Al Jazeera's Rawyah Rageh, reporting from Mpeketoni on Monday, said that residents were "shocked" about how the attack lasted for hours, with the gunmen fleeing with minimal resistance.