Nairobi : Al-Shabab fighters from Somalia hijacked a bus in Kenya’s north and killed 28 non-Muslims on board after they had been singled out from the rest of the passengers, police officials said.
The attack happened near the town of Mandera, near the country’s northern border with Somalia.
According to Kenya’s National Disaster Operation Center, the attack happened at Lethi, outside Mandera.
police cited by AP said it was a terrorist attack carried out by the Islamist extremist group Shabab. Regional police commander Elvis Korir said about 100 gunmen hijacked the bus and ordered all the passengers off, according to the Daily Nation newspaper. The group was divided into two groups: Somalis and non-Somalis.
Another police official, Noah Mwivanda, said witnesses had recounted that gunmen ordered passengers to recite a Koranic verse; anyone who couldn’t was killed, he said, according to the paper. Mwivanda said witnesses reported there were four police among the dead.
Last year gunmen attacked a popular Nairobi shopping mall, killing at least 67 people. Earlier this year, extremists carried out a series of attacks on villages near Kenya’s cost, killing dozens of people. In both cases, survivors reported that gunmen questioned people about whether they were Muslims, freeing those who were, but shooting non-Muslims
Bureau Report
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