Bodies of 28 Shabaab Attack Victims in Mandera to be Flown to Nairobi
Police said none of the 28 who died in the Al-Shabaab attack was a local resident or a Muslim.
Kenya Daily Nation
In Summary
--Police said the driver decided to stop on noticing that the man in middle of the road could have blown off the entire bus, killing everyone on board
--The county police boss said Kenya Defence Forces were now pursuing the attackers, who are believed to have crossed to Somalia on foot
--“The number of non-Muslims booked by the bus company is too high and all were killed,” he said
Twenty-eight bodies of victims of the early morning attack in Mandera by Al-Shabaab militants will be flown to Nairobi by evening, police have said.
Mandera County Police Commander Noah Mwivanda said a chopper from Nairobi had already been dispatched to collect the bodies.
He said none the 28 dead was a local resident or a Muslim as they all came from other parts of the country.
“I can confirm that all the dead are not locals and most are teachers, health workers and other professions including my one officer who was off for Christmas holidays,” said Mr Mwivanda.
He said when the Nairobi-bound bus arrived at Omar Jillo village, the driver noticed six men, who were armed, standing on both sides of the road.
“The armed men waved down the driver to stop the bus but he did not. Instead, he sped off only to notice three more standing on the middle of the road holding bazookas,” said Mr Mwivanda.
KILL EVERYONE ON BOARD
He said the driver decided to stop, on noticing that the man in the middle of the road could have blown off the entire bus, killing everyone on board.
“The driver stopped, only for 15 other men to get in the bus and who then commandeered him to drive towards Somalia but after a kilometre, the bus got stuck in the mud as it had rained heavily in the area yesterday. All the passengers were then asked to come off and were divided into two groups," said Mr Mwivanda.
He said the attackers, who spoke Swahili and English, asked the passengers to recite the Islamic “shaada” and those who failed were asked to lie down in a straight line,” said Mr Mwivanda.
“It’s so unfortunate that they were all shot on the head from behind, one after the other. All the twenty-eight died on the spot. There were no injuries but just one teacher who escaped as the attackers got confused by the blood stains on him and moved on to the next victim,” said Mr Mvivanda.
The county police boss nothing was found on the dead bodies as the attackers took away everything before killing them.
BUS MANAGEMENT
Mr Mwivanda said investigations were underway and the management of the bus company would be the first to be interrogated.
He said they would have to explain why only non-Muslims were killed and that the timing of the incident was in itself suspect.
“The number of non-Muslims booked by the bus company is too high and all were killed,” he said.
The dead are 19 male and nine female, including a police officer and his wife, who had visited him as they proceeded for the Christmas holidays.
The county police boss said Kenya Defence Forces were now pursuing the attackers, who are believed to have crossed to Somalia on foot.
“The attack just happened less than six kilometres from the main border and our men doing the aerial surveillance told us that no one was in vicinity but the KDF is hunting down the attackers,” said Mwivanda.
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| Police patrol Omar Jillo at the Kenya-Somalia border after 28 people were massacred during the early morning hours of Nov. 22, 2014. |
Kenya Daily Nation
In Summary
--Police said the driver decided to stop on noticing that the man in middle of the road could have blown off the entire bus, killing everyone on board
--The county police boss said Kenya Defence Forces were now pursuing the attackers, who are believed to have crossed to Somalia on foot
--“The number of non-Muslims booked by the bus company is too high and all were killed,” he said
Twenty-eight bodies of victims of the early morning attack in Mandera by Al-Shabaab militants will be flown to Nairobi by evening, police have said.
Mandera County Police Commander Noah Mwivanda said a chopper from Nairobi had already been dispatched to collect the bodies.
He said none the 28 dead was a local resident or a Muslim as they all came from other parts of the country.
“I can confirm that all the dead are not locals and most are teachers, health workers and other professions including my one officer who was off for Christmas holidays,” said Mr Mwivanda.
He said when the Nairobi-bound bus arrived at Omar Jillo village, the driver noticed six men, who were armed, standing on both sides of the road.
“The armed men waved down the driver to stop the bus but he did not. Instead, he sped off only to notice three more standing on the middle of the road holding bazookas,” said Mr Mwivanda.
KILL EVERYONE ON BOARD
He said the driver decided to stop, on noticing that the man in the middle of the road could have blown off the entire bus, killing everyone on board.
“The driver stopped, only for 15 other men to get in the bus and who then commandeered him to drive towards Somalia but after a kilometre, the bus got stuck in the mud as it had rained heavily in the area yesterday. All the passengers were then asked to come off and were divided into two groups," said Mr Mwivanda.
He said the attackers, who spoke Swahili and English, asked the passengers to recite the Islamic “shaada” and those who failed were asked to lie down in a straight line,” said Mr Mwivanda.
“It’s so unfortunate that they were all shot on the head from behind, one after the other. All the twenty-eight died on the spot. There were no injuries but just one teacher who escaped as the attackers got confused by the blood stains on him and moved on to the next victim,” said Mr Mvivanda.
The county police boss nothing was found on the dead bodies as the attackers took away everything before killing them.
BUS MANAGEMENT
Mr Mwivanda said investigations were underway and the management of the bus company would be the first to be interrogated.
He said they would have to explain why only non-Muslims were killed and that the timing of the incident was in itself suspect.
“The number of non-Muslims booked by the bus company is too high and all were killed,” he said.
The dead are 19 male and nine female, including a police officer and his wife, who had visited him as they proceeded for the Christmas holidays.
The county police boss said Kenya Defence Forces were now pursuing the attackers, who are believed to have crossed to Somalia on foot.
“The attack just happened less than six kilometres from the main border and our men doing the aerial surveillance told us that no one was in vicinity but the KDF is hunting down the attackers,” said Mwivanda.
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