Most terrorist attacks in the country are conducted by the al-Shabaab Islamist group, an al-Qaeda affiliate, based in neighboring Somalia.
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Mandera Governor Ali Roba said the passengers had refused to be separated and dared the attackers to either kill all of them or leave. “We will investigate the incident to find out the motive”, Saleh said.
The militants left fearing retaliation by residents from nearby villages, but only after shooting at the bus as it drove away, killing two people and injuring three.
The militants also shot at a lorry that was passing by and killed a passenger.
Witnesses said the insurgents had asked the passengers to alight from the vehicle and attempted to separate Muslims and non-Muslims but the passengers refused.
“The police vehicle had broken down and the drivers made a decision to proceed with their journeys without a police escort”.
According to Kenya’s Daily Nation news service, two people died and three were injured when a bus travelling from Nairobi to Mandera was attacked by Al-Shabaab militants this morning.
This is not the first bus attack in the region.
A police official who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to give information to the media said that before the rebels could take action on the non-Muslims, a fearless Muslim man fooled the attackers by saying that a truck full of police officers that was escorting bus was not far behind.
On November 22nd, 2014, 28 people were killed on their way to Nairobi for the holiday season.
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But they had killed a passenger who was on board the Makka bus as it raced to Mandera from Nairobi Monday at 6.45 am.
