07 December 2019•Update: 08 December 2019
NAIROBI, Kenya
Suspected Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab militants killed eight people on a bus Friday in northern Kenya, according to authorities.
The militants attacked the 50-passanger bus headed from the Kenyan capital to Wajir County, killing only non-Muslims. Wajir in northern Kenya is predominantly inhabited by Muslims.
Wajir County Police Commander Stephen Ng'etich told reporters that "armed men ambushed a bus that was travelling to Mandera on Friday evening."
He said militants separated non-locals from Wajir County residents and released the bus to proceed to Wajir, executing the remainder who were visiting the county.
Kenya’s Office of the Inspector General said, "a team of security personnel have been sent to the scene.
Musa Dahir, a teacher, told Anadolu Agency that militants "separated locals and non-locals. Of course, all locals were Muslim. My daughter was on the bus. She is here with me at home."
Wajir's close proximity to the porous Kenya-Somali border has witnessed numerous attacks from al-Shabaab militants that has claimed hundreds of lives.
In November 2014, al-Shabaab militants killed 28 Kenyan teachers after separating Muslims in Mandera, a town bordering Wajir.
On Dec. 2, 2014, 36 Christian quarry workers were killed in Mandera county by militants, prompting the government to heighten security along the border.
