Kenya: 6 murdered in suspected al-Shabab attack, including beheaded elder
- Elder stabbed and beheaded and home razed; 5 other men shot or burned in area near Somalia, some with hands bound
- Al-Shabab fighters have staged other attacks in Kenya in retaliation for Nairobi sending troops into Somalia in 2011 to try to oust jihadists
The killings happened in a coastal region bordering Somalia, police and government officials said on Monday, with the other five shot or burned to death in the early morning attack in a village in Lamu County about 420km (260 miles) southeast of Nairobi.
Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia said the attackers were suspected jihadists from al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group based across the border in Somalia.
“Our security forces are pursuing them, and we urge support from locals to help us because when we work together we succeed,” he said.
Police said the attackers stabbed and beheaded a local elder and razed his home, and shot dead another man whose body was found on a roadside nearby.
The corpses of four other men burned beyond recognition were found with their hands bound in another location, according to the police report seen by Agence France-Presse. “Also several houses were torched within the locality and property of unknown value burnt,” the report said.
Bullet cases were recovered and an investigation is ongoing.
Lamu County governor Fahim Twaha condemned those responsible for the “atrocities committed against innocent people”.