Bodies of Kenyans lie at a quarry in Mandera County
Islamic extremists from Somalia killed 36 quarry workers in northern Kenya early yesterday, targeting non-Muslims just like an attack 10 days ago on bus passengers.
The killings happened in Mandera County near the border with Somalia and the attackers escaped, said Kenyan police chief David Kimaiyo.
The group al-Shabab, which has been battling for years to establish hardline Islamic rule in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the killings.
A group of about 50 heavily armed people walked into the camp next to the quarry at 12:30 a.m. as the workers were sleeping and fired warning shots, said Peter Nderitu, who works at the quarry.
Nderitu said when he heard the shooting he ran and hid in a trench from where he could hear his colleagues being asked to recite the Shahada, an Islamic creed declaring oneness with God. Then gunshots followed. He only rose from his hiding place two hours later when he was sure there was no more movement, he said. The bodies of his colleagues were in two rows and that nearly all had been shot in the back of the head, he said.
The gunmen singled out non-Muslims and killed them, said the police. The quarry camp is in the Koromey area on the outskirts of Mandera town, said presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu.
Al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage said the latest attack was a response to Kenya’s troop presence in Somalia and alleged atrocities committed by the Kenyan army there, such as a recent airstrike. Al-Shabab claimed the airstrike killed innocent people and destroyed their property. The Kenyan government said the airstrike was in response to a Nov. 22 al-Shabab attack on bus passengers in Mandera County that left 28 people dead.
In that attack, the non-Muslims were also separated from other passengers and shot dead.
About 100 non-Muslims last week sought refuge at the army base in Mandera, demanding that the government evacuate them.
Al-Shabab has vowed to attack Kenya for sending its troops into Somalia to fight the rebels. The Kenyan military was deployed to Somalia in Oct 2011. Since then Kenya has experienced a series of explosive and gun attacks blamed on the militants. Tom Odula, Nairobi , AP
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