According to the police, armed attackers struck two communities in southeast Kenya’s Lamu district on Sunday, killing five people.
Additionally, the attackers set houses on fire and damaged property.
The police referred to the occurrence as a “terrorist attack,” a term they frequently employ to describe invasions by the Islamist al-Shabab group in Somalia.
Al-Shabab rebels routinely launch attacks in Lamu, close to Kenya’s border with Somalia, in an effort to persuade Kenya to remove its troops from Somalia, where they are serving as part of an international peacekeeping mission defending the central government.
The Salama and Juhudi villages were attacked early on Sunday morning, according to the police.
A 60-year-old man was restrained by a rope, had his throat cut, and had his home and all of its contents set on fire. In a similar fashion, three other people were also slain, and a fifth person was shot.
The attackers set fire to the victims’ and other inhabitants’ homes before fleeing into a neighboring forest, according to authorities.
Al-Qaida-associated al-Shabab has been waging war in Somalia for years in an effort to overthrow the national government and install its own system of governance based on a strict application of Islamic sharia law.
Reuters
