Al-Shabaab Kills 3 Christians in Kenya; Militant Declares 'Infidels Should Be Wiped Out'
Al-Shabaab extremists are believed to have killed three Christians during an early-morning raid on a primary school about 100 miles from Kenya's border with Somalia last Friday.
Sources told the Christian persecution news outlet Morning Star News that Christian teacher Seth Oluoch Odada, his wife Caroline and fellow Christian teacher Kevin Shari were shot to death in Wajir County in North East Kenya by extremists targeting Kenyans who traveled to the region for work.
The sources explained that the extremists stormed the sleeping quarters of the Qarsa Primary School and proceeded to take the life of the three Christians and also shot at others.
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One of the teachers who survived the attack told a worker at Wajir Referral Hospital that one of the assailants said after the attack in the Somali language that "these infidels should be wiped out."
The pastor of the local church attended by the Odadas told Morning Star News that some Christians in the local community have fled the town following the incident due to fear there could be increased violence against Christians in the area.
The pastor, who chose to remain nameless, also explained that he and others believe the act was carried out by militants associated with al-Qaida's Somalia affiliate, al-Shabaab.
"We are very concerned about this selective kind of attack on non-locals who are also Christians in this region," the pastor explained. "Our other church members are not safe. Many of the church members, including teachers, have started fleeing the area to their home villages, and some did not attend the church for the Sunday service."
A source at the hospital said that the teacher was able to survive by playing dead after he was shot in the hand.
According to the Kenyan news outlet The Star, one of the assailants in the attack has been arrested while two others remain at large.
North Eastern Regional Coordinator Mohamud Saleh told the The Star that a team of multi-agency security agents located the suspect.
"Security apparatus are determined to ensure the arrest of those involved in the killing of innocent Kenyans," Saleh said. "I assure Kenyans that we will pursue this matter to the very end. Even if they cross over to Somalia we shall go for them. They will face the consequences."
Because extremists appear to be targeting non-locals, Morning Star News reports that the Wajir branch of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers has called for the withdrawal of all non-local teachers in Wajir County if the government is not able to increase security.
Additionally, many non-local teachers have fled the Wajir area.
"We cannot close our eyes as non-local teachers are being butchered," a union official said.
Kenya ranks as the 32nd-worst nation in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA's 2018 World Watch List.
"Most of the persecution of Kenya's Christians comes from the Islamic militant group al-Shabaab," Open Doors explains in a fact sheet. "The group, based in neighboring Somalia, has conducted numerous attacks targeting Christians in Kenya, a majority-Christian country."
Wajir is located 200 miles north of Garissa, a town where another horrendous al-Shabaab attack against Christians occured in 2015.
Nearly 150 Christians were killed and about 79 others were injured when al-Shabaab extremists launched a massacre at Garissa University.
Last June, it was reported that al-Shabaab surpassed Nigeria's Boko Haram to become Africa's deadliest terror group.
According to Quartz Africa, al-Shabaab attacks led to the death of over 4,000 people in the year 2016 alone.
Al-Shabaab isn't the only persecutor of Christians in Kenya. Earlier this year, as many as 35 Christian students were stabbed and beaten by Muslim students at Jamhuri High School in Nairobi because of their refusal to convert to Islam.
