Al-Shabaab kills four villagers in another attack

The Witu area, which is 34km from Mpeketoni in Lamu County. MAP |

What you need to know:

  • Mr Kanyiri said investigations were ongoing to determine whether the attack was orchestrated by Al-Shabaab militants or herders.

The number of people killed by Al-Shabaab militants in Maleli village in Lamu West on Thursday evening rose to four on Friday, after one more body of a man was found in a thicket by security officers.

Lamu’s Linda Boni Operation Director Joseph Kanyiri told journalists on Friday that heavily armed men suspected to be Al-Shabaab militants invaded Maleli village at around 10pm Thursday and commanded villagers to come out of their houses.

Mr Kanyiri said the militants then beheaded three people on the spot before fleeing into the forest.

HERDERS
He said the fourth body was found in the bush by security officers who had rushed to the village Friday morning and that he believed the victim might have been taken hostage before he was later killed and his body dumped.

Security officers were dispatched to pursue the attackers, who are said to have fled back into the forest.

The victims had returned to their homes in Maleli to guard their farms from being invaded by herders, who are grazing animals in the area.

PROBE
Mr Kanyiri said investigations were ongoing to determine whether the attack was orchestrated by Al-Shabaab militants or herders, noting there has been a running dispute between farmers and herders in the region over pasture.

He added the four were killed in a manner similar to the killings in Jima and Poromoko villages in the same division on July 8, where nine people were beheaded.

“We had received reports of three people killed but our officers found the fourth body dumped in the bush. The killings are gruesome,” Mr Kanyiri

said.

DISPLACED

Most areas in Witu division including Maleli, Kakathe, Pandanguo, Jima, Poromoko and the others near the Boni Forest are under tight surveillance.

A multi-agency security Operation Linda Boni is under way, with the main aim being to flush out Al-Shabaab militants who have been wreaking havoc for the past two months.

In July, the national government ordered residents living in the areas to vacate their homes to pave way for the security operation and currently over 1,000 locals are putting up in camps at Katsaka Kairu and Witu AIC.

ORDER
Mr Kanyiri however pointed out that despite the order for locals to vacate their homes, herders are still grazing their animals in the prohibited areas.

He ordered all herders to remove their animals from inside the Boni Forest and all the mentioned areas in the next 48 hours.

Those who fail would be considered terrorists, he added.

He noted that many of those posing as herders were suspicious since their activities are closely related to those of the Al-Shabaab.

He observed that it was hard to comprehend how the herders who graze their livestock in the forest do not to see any attackers or even their hideouts and added that they are probably part of the terror gang.

“We are sending a message to all herders to vacate because they are derailing our operations,” he said.