Christians and non-Muslims were singled out and killed when suspected Al Shabaab extremists attacked a bus in northern Kenya on 6 December.
The bus was forced to a halt by the militants in Wajir county, on the Somali border, as it travelled from Nairobi to Mandera.
The militants allowed Muslims to go free before killing at least eleven non-local passengers, eight of whom were Christians. A Barnabas contact said seven of the murdered Christians were unarmed policemen returning to work after a period of leave.
The terrorists are thought to have identified the non-Muslims by the fact that they were not local people. Wajir county is 99% Muslim, but Kenya as a whole is over 80% Christian. Our contact asked for prayer, particularly in the run up to Christmas when extremist attacks on Christians often increase.
Al Shabaab militants have singled out Christians for execution-style murder in two previous bus attacks in Kenya. In September 2018 , they flagged down a bus before killing a boy who assisted the driver and a passenger after they refused to recite the shahada Islamic creed. In November 2014, militants separated passengers who appeared to be Somali (and therefore almost certainly Muslim) from the rest before shooting dead 28 passengers who could not, or would not, recite the shahada.
Christian passengers were also targeted by Al Shabaab militants in October 2019 , when gunmen attempted to flag down a minibus in Mandera city. The Christians’ lives were saved by the Muslim driver who refused to stop and accelerated away as the jihadists sprayed the vehicle with bullets.
From Barnabas Fund contacts
