5 Killed, Houses Set On Fire In Suspected Al Shabaab Raid
The assailants raided the villages at around 7.30 pm on Saturday, June 24, dragged the victims from their houses, and tied their hands and legs with ropes behind their backs before executing them.
admin
Residents of Salama and Juhudi villages in Mkunumbi Division, Lamu County are living in fear after suspected Al-Shabaab militants torched over five houses and killed five people.
The assailants raided the villages at around 7.30 pm on Saturday, June 24, dragged the victims from their houses, and tied their hands and legs with ropes behind their backs before executing them.
The victims of the Saturday night attack are men, including a Form Three Student from Bakanja Secondary School identified as Barack Hussein, 19, who had come home for a half-term break before meeting his death.
One of the houses torched by armed assailants raided Salama village in Lamu at around 7.30 pm on Saturday, June 24, 2023, and killed five. /NATION
Pamela Akoth Ogutu, the aunt and guardian to the Form 3 student, revealed that a group of over 30 men, armed with guns, pangas, and knives, and who wore military regalia, raided her homestead at around 8 pm and ordered them to lie down without screaming.
Ogutu, her two nephews, a niece, and a woman neighbour were seated talking at her home when the men showed up.
After the incident, she noted that they were commanded to go back to one of the houses before the men went to the other house used as a store and stole some food items, chicken and goats before setting it ablaze.
The Kenyan government was yet to confirm if the attack was carried out by the notorious terrorist group.
Lamu West Sub-County Police Commander Harrison Njuguna, however, confirmed that security officers swung into action to bring those culpable to book.
“The motive behind the killings is suspected to be a dispute over grazing land,” Njuguna stated.
Salama and Juhudi villages are in the same area where six people were killed and over ten houses torched in January 2022 by suspected Al Shabaab militants before escaping into a nearby forest.
The attack came a week after at least two Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers were killed as they responded to a morning attack targeting a General Service Unit (GSU) team in Lamu.
At least 10 GSU officers were earlier injured when an armoured personnel carrier (APC) vehicle they were in ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
Chief strategic communication head Brig. Zipporah Kioko confirmed the death of the two soldiers, adding that the wounded were airlifted for medical attention.
A response team from KDF was also ambushed in the attack leaving dozens injured.
