At least three men were killed in a village in Kenya's coastal Lamu county in the early hours of Sunday during a raid by suspected Islamist militants, police and officials said.
ADVERTISEMENT
3 killed in suspected Islamist attack in northern region
The village sits about 40 km (25 miles) inland from the Indian Ocean town of Lamu, which is popular with Western tourists, and is 100 km from the border with Somalia.
Police hold their positions outside the Masjid Mussa mosque as they attempt to suppress demonstrators reacting to the killing of an Islamic cleric at Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa October 4, 2013. REUTERS/Joseph Okanga
Recommended articles
At least five gunmen who spoke Somali came to Pandanguo village, searching for men. They interrogated them and some of them they killed, a survivor who was shot during the attack said from a local hospital.
"They asked me questions in the Somali language. When I struggled to respond, they shot me but hit my hand," said the victim, who asked not to be named.
In the past, such attacks in Kenya have been carried out by al Shabaab, a Somali militant group which wants to punish Kenya for sending its troops into Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping force.
ADVERTISEMENT
Al Shabaab, which is aligned to al Qaeda, did not claim credit for the attack and spokesman for the group could not immediately be reached.
But Mombasa county commissioner Nelson Marwa said the attack "resembles one of those executed by the al Shabaab," though he said investigators were still looking into the reports that the attackers were speaking Somali.
In 2014, at least 60 people were killed in the area in a spate of attacks that targeted non-Muslim men. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for those attacks.
Like the attack on Sunday, those attacks took place inland from the coast.
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh
Recommended articles
‘Dumsor’ challenges will end in a few days – ECG Board Chairman assures Ghanaians
We’ll prosecute corrupt appointees under Akufo-Addo’s govt – Prof. Opoku-Agyeman
How First and Second Ladies rejected and refunded all allowances given to them since 2017
Russian Deputy Defence Minister, Ivanov detained for accepting large bribes
Vice President Dr. Bawumia meets Pope Francis in Rome
Payment of salaries to spouses of President, Vice President illegal – Supreme Court
Celebrating a Maternal Pillar: The enduring legacy of Comfort Naa Momo Amugi
Akufo-Addo tasks the Finance Ministry, GRA to renegotiate the SML contract
