Militants from Somali al Shabaab kill at least 36 non-Muslim workers at a quarry in Kenya, beheading at least two, in revenge for Kenyan military action against the group. Mana Rabiee reports.
For Kenyan soldiers, it was a gruesome discovery. Still photos show the graphic aftermath of a mass murder in northeast Kenya, where Somali al Shabaab militants killed at least 36 non-Muslims, beheading at least two of them. The victims were workers at a quarry.
A local village elder says the men were asleep in their tents when the militants crept up on them around 1 a.m. local time Tuesday. Most of the workers were shot in the head. The attack was in revenge for Kenya’s military action against al Shabaab in neighboring Somalia.
Opponents of the government say Kenyan troops in Somalia have done too little to secure the country but Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says they face a determined enemy.
“The obvious intent is to create hostility and and suspicion across ethnic and religious lines and to drive non Muslims from certain parts of the country…Dear Kenyans, a time has come for each and every one of us to decide and choose. Are you on the side of an open and free democratic Kenya, which respects the rule of law, sanctity of life and freedom of worship? Or do you stand with a repressive, intolerant and murderous extremists?”
The attack on the quarry happened in the same area where al Shabaab militants hijacked a bus in November, killing 28 non-Muslim passengers. Al Shabaab was also behind the deadly attack last year at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi which left at least 67 people dead. ..and Kenyans are increasingly demanding their government do more to protect them.
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