Date: 22/11/2014
Somalia's Al-Shabab Says It Killed 28 In Kenya
| By TOM ODULA
Posted: 22/11/2014 14:12 GMT Updated: 3 hours ago
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — One gunman shot from the right, one from the left, each killing the non-Muslims lying in a line on the ground, growing closer and closer to Douglas Ochwodho, who was in the middle.
And then the shooting stopped. Apparently each gunman thought the other shot Ochwodho. He lay perfectly still until the 20 Islamic extremists left, and he appears to be the only survivor of those who had been selected for death.
Somalia's Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, attacked a bus in northern Kenya at dawn Saturday, singling out and killing 28 passengers who could not recite an Islamic creed and were assumed to be non-Muslims, Kenyan police said.
Those who could not say the Shahada, a tenet of the Muslim faith, were shot at close range, Ochwodho told The Associated Press.
Nineteen men and nine women were killed in the bus attack, said Kenyan police chief David Kimaiyo.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the killings through its radio station in Somalia, saying it was in retaliation for raids by Kenyan security forces carried out earlier this week on four mosques at the Kenyan coast.
Kenya's military said it responded to the killings with airstrikes later Saturday that destroyed the attackers' camp in Somalia and killed 45 rebels.
"The United States condemns in the strongest terms today's horrific attack in Kenya by the terrorist group al-Shabab against innocent civilians," said Bernadette Meehan, the spokeswoman for the National Security Council in Washington.
"The United States stands with our Kenyan partners in the effort to counter the threat of terrorism and affirms our ongoing commitment to working with all Kenyans to combat these atrocities," her statement said.
The bus traveling to the capital Nairobi with 60 passengers was hijacked about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the town of Mandera near Kenya's border with Somalia, said two police officers who insisted on anonymity because they were ordered not to speak to the press.
The attackers first tried to wave the bus down but it didn't stop so the gunmen sprayed it with bullets, said the police. When that didn't work they shot a rocket propelled grenade at it, the officers said.
The gunmen took control of the vehicle and forced it off the road where they ordered all the passengers out of the vehicle and separated those who appeared to be non-Muslims— mostly non-Somalis— from the rest.
The survivor, Douglas Ochwodho, a non-Muslim head teacher of a private primary school in Mandera, said was travelling home for the Christmas vacation since school had closed.
Ochwodho told AP that the passengers who did not look Somali were separated from the others. The non-Somali passengers were then asked to recite the Shahada, an Islamic creed declaring oneness with God. Those who couldn't recite the creed were ordered to lie down. Ochwodho was among those who had to lie on the ground.
Two gunmen started shooting those on the ground; one gunman started from the left and other from the right, Ochwodho said. When they reached him they were confused on whether either had shot him, he said.
Ochwodho lay still until the gunmen left, he said. He then ran back to the road and got a lift from a pick-up truck back to Mandera. He spoke from a hospital bed where he was being treated for shock.
Seventeen of the 28 dead were teachers, according to the police commander in Mandera County.
A shortage of personnel and lack of equipment led to a slow response by police when the information was received, said two police officers who insisted on anonymity because they were ordered not to speak to the press. They said the attackers have more sophisticated weaponry than the police who waited for military reinforcements before responding.
Kenya has been hit by a series of gun and bomb attacks blamed on al-Shabab, who are linked to al-Qaida, since it sent troops into Somalia in October 2011. Authorities say there have been at least 135 attacks by al-Shabab since then, including the assault on Nairobi's upscale Westgate Mall in September 2013 in which 67 people were killed. Al-Shabab said it was responsible for other attacks on Kenya's coast earlier this year which killed at least 90 people.
Al-Shabab is becoming "more entrenched and a graver threat to Kenya," warned the International Crisis Group in a September report to mark the anniversary of the Westgate attack. The report said that the Islamic extremists are taking advantage of longstanding grievances of Kenya's Muslim community, such as official discrimination and marginalization.
Kenya has been struggling to contain growing extremism in the country. Earlier this week the authorities shut down four mosques at the Kenyan coast after police alleged they found explosives and a gun when they raided the places of worship.
Some Muslims believe the police planted the weapons to justify closing the mosques, Kheled Khalifa, a human rights official said Friday warning that methods being used to tackle extremism by government will increase support for radicals.
BBC News - Who are Somalia's al-Shabab?
Al-Shabab militants kill 28 on bus in Kenya | New York Post
Kenya bus killings claimed by Somali group al-Shabab - BBC.com
Somalia's Al-Shabab Says It Killed 28 in Kenya
Kenya police: Al-Shabab militants kill 28 non-Muslims in bus
Conversations
Phillip Nagle · Top commenter · Northwestern University
This is not a case of religious extremism! It is a case of Islamic terrorism that is becoming more and more common throughout the world. The truth is Moslems are murdering non Moslems all over the world. China, Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Israel. Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, France, United Kingdom, etc. The murders have a common thread, they are Moslems (usually Sunni Moslems). I for one am tired of hearing the excuses being issued for Islam.
Reply · · 54 · 9 hours ago
Muhammad Hamzah · Top commenter · Manchester · 419 followers
This is beyond religion and far from what Islam teaches!!! None Muslims have been murdering Muslims also for centuries! then you have the White European Christian colonialists raping murdering committing genocide against Natives in America , Africa, Asia and Australia! How many Millions murdered? Just as these white colonialists do not represent Christ and Christianity also the freaks and terrorists do not rep The Prophet Muhammad or Islam! You also need to learn how to spell! it is Muslim not Moslem!
Reply · · 3 · 5 hours ago
Greg Whineman
Muhammad Hamzah Muhammad, these people killed teachers, nurses who were helping people of Northern Kenya who are Muslims. They had options to refuse to go to work in Northern Kenya, but prefered to help our brothers and sisters in Northern Kenya. Your justification for gruesome murder of innocent people is just bad taste.
Marco Fabiani · Top commenter
Typical savages. Attacking unarmed civilians. How impressive. How tough of you. Nothing but frustrated virgins. The world will be a better place when we rid it of you.
Reply · · 34 · 9 hours ago
Moira Cleary · Top commenter · Los Angeles, California
Yes it is harder to actually wage a campaign against hardened war vets and combatants, but so much easier to terrorize citizens.
Reply · · 7 · 8 hours ago
Russ Townsend
Moira Cleary They are not trying to terrorize, they are trying to purge. Ultimate goal is 100% islamic world.
Reply · · 10 · 5 hours ago
Ang Commo
'Somalian Islamic extremist rebels' kill 28 non-Muslims? How about Somalian Islamics kill 28 non-Muslms?
Reply · · 12 · 9 hours ago
Ang Commo
'Somalian Islamic extremist rebels' kill 28 non-Muslims? How about Somalian Islamics kill 28 non-Muslms?
Reply · · 24 · 9 hours ago
Bryon Gross · New Port Richey, Florida
It is the action, of extremist Muslims, and the silence of the majority of Muslims, that are responsible for these, and countless other, barbaric acts.
Reply · · 11 · 9 hours ago
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