Muslims Shielded Christians During A Kenya Bus Attack By Suspected Islamic Militants

Monday saw a dramatic gesture by Muslims who protected Christians during a terror-based attack in Kenya. The event occurred near Mandera when a group of armed attackers (suspected to be Al-Shabaab militants) descended upon a bus full of passengers. The BBC details the scene, which saw Muslim passengers refusing to separate into groups based upon religion. The Muslims told the armed gunmen to “kill them together or leave them alone.”

The Daily Nation (which had the report first) confirmed that two fatalities and three injuries (of locals) occurred during the attack, and the militants left the scene in a rush. Mandera Governor Ali Roba expressed pride at how locals came together in a time of crisis:

“This forced the militants to leave in a hurry fearing retaliation by residents from nearby villages. The locals showed a sense of patriotism and belonging to each other by insisting that the Al-Shabaab should kill them together or leave them alone.”

Roba condemned the attacks and says intelligence reports indicate how at least 200 Al-Shabaab militants have entered from Somalia in recent weeks. Roba hopes locals will pressure government to “flush out” the militants, who are flooding villages in an attempt to radicalize new recruits. Earlier this year, Al-Shabaab was responsible for an attack that killed 148 people in an effort to eliminate the area of Christians.

Twitter has come together in solidarity with the #ManderaBusAttack hashtag. Here are a small sampling of tweets that celebrate the bravery of the locals.

https://twitter.com/_Korir_/status/678970431664181248

(Via Daily Nation, BBC & The Independent)