2 Christians killed, 1 abducted by al-Shabaab in Kenya

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Sunday, March 15, 2020

A mortuary worker labels coffins for the students killed during an attack by gunmen at the Garissa University College, at the Chiromo Mortuary in Nairobi, April 8, 2015. Kenya's Education Principal Secretary Richard Kipsang said the government had started releasing the bodies to their relatives ahead of the burials and that their target was about 20 per day. In the biggest single attack on Kenyan soil since the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing, gunmen from the Islamist militant group al Shabaab stormed Garissa University College and killed 148 people and left dozen others injured on April 2, 2015. | (Photo: Reuters/Thomas Mukoya)

In yet another assault on Christians in north-eastern Kenya, suspected militants from the Somalia-based al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab killed two people and abducted another in two separate attacks this week.

The militants ambushed a passenger bus on the road between Elwak and Mandera near the Jabi-bar area Wednesday and asked all of the passengers to disembark before identifying non-Muslims, according to the U.S.-based persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern.

The suspected member of Al-Shabaab then abducted a Christian.

An hour later, two non-local medical transporters were killed and their truck was burned in the same location near the porous Kenya-Somalia border. The deceased were ferrying medicines.

“The driver and turn boy who are both non-locals were taken away. It was later reported that the lorry has been burnt down to ashes,” Mandera’s Governor said in a statement.

“Al-Shabaab is following through with its threat to target and attack non-local Christians,” Nathan Johnson, ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, said. “They have increased this type of attack greatly already this year. If this continues, 2020 could be one of the deadliest for Kenyan Christians in recent history. Though I commend the Kenyan government for taking this situation seriously, they must figure out a better way to stop these attacks before dozens more Christians are killed.”

Late last month, al-Shabaab “ordered” Christians to leave three counties in north-eastern Kenya to allow local Muslims to get all local jobs.

“Muslim teachers, doctors, engineers, and young graduates from the northeastern province are unemployed. Isn’t it better to give them a chance? There is no need for the presence of disbelievers,” al-Shabaab’s spokesman, Sheikh Ali Dhere, said in an audio clip posted online, referring to the counties of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera.

In the 20-minute clip, the spokesman urged Somali-Kenyans to drive all non-Muslims out if they do not leave on their own.

The majority of the people living in the three counties are Somalis, who fled to Kenya due to war and violence in Somalia.

In January, three Christian teachers were murdered in the town of Kamuthe in Garissa County during an attack on a primary school believed to have been carried out by al-Shabaab.

Last month, two Christians were reported to be among three people killed after suspected al-Shabaab militants attacked a bus carrying passengers to the capital of Nairobi from a market town near the Ethiopian and Somalian borders.

Al-Shabaab has fought for years to overthrow the Somali government. The group has been responsible for attacks on both sides of the Somalia and Kenya border as it has long vowed to retaliate against Kenya for sending in troops to Somalia to fight the group.

In April 2015, al-Shabaab carried out one of its deadliest attacks when it stormed the campus of Garissa University. On that occasion, militants were said to have separated Muslims from non-Muslims and proceeded to execute all non-Muslim students. At least 148 people were killed in the attack.

Kenya ranks as the 44th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2020 World Watch List.