Passengers of a bus that was attacked on Monday morning by suspected Al Shabaab militants in Mandera have been hailed for reportedly refusing to be separated based on religion, and daring the attackers to kill them together.
According Deputy County Commissioner Julius Otieno, the militants flagged down the bus and a lorry at Daba area and asked Muslims to remain in the vehicle while ordering Christians to alight.
“They were trying to identify who were Christians and who were not. They told the Muslims to return to the vehicle,” said Otieno.
Mandera Governor Ali Roba confirmed the incident, reiterating that the locals stood together with their Christian counterparts and dared the militants to either kill them together or leave.
“The locals showed a sense of patriotism and belonging to each other by insisting that the Al-Shabaab should kill them together or leave them alone,” Mr Roba told Daily Nation.
According to Roba, this instilled fear in the militants who fled fearing retaliatory attacks from villagers around the area.
However, two people were killed with three others sustaining injuries. A Citizen TV report indicated that the deceased were two muslims who stood with the Christians.
Read Also: 2 Killed in Mandera Bus Attack
In November 2014, a similar attack happened on a Nairobi-bound bus after the Somali-based fighters separated passengers based on their religion and killed 28 of them at Arabiya in Mandera, near the Kenya-Somali border. Majority of those killed were teachers operating in the North-Eastern region.
