According to the police statement on Sunday morning, “We wish to confirm that an incident was reported to us at around 9 p.m. Saturday in Salama-Juhudi, and we dispatched a team to rescue and thwart any advancement from the suspected Al-Shabaab members. Upon arrival, we found that they had already killed people, set houses on fire and made away with livestock. Five people were confirmed dead.”

A village elder who witnessed the ambush attested that the perpetrators consisted of around 20 gunmen. He fled to save his own life, hiding from the attackers.

“I was still awake at the time the terrorist ambushed our village,” he said. “I heard screams coming from my neighbour’s house, and after some minutes, their house went up in flames. I knew there was danger, and I could not leave anything to chance. They went on attacking people and burning houses, and after an hour, they arrived at my home. I saw a large group of about 20, and some of them went to the pen and carried away all my seven goats.”

Police reported the five victims were tied with ropes and had their throats slit. The gunmen also burnt down eight houses and stole livestock.

“All the deceased were men, and one of them was a 19-year-old student who had come home for term break. All the victims were murdered in cold blood with some tied with ropes in their hands and legs with ropes behind their backs and butchered and others blindfolded and then executed.”

These attacks have become more and more regular. The al-Qaeda-linked Muslim terrorists returned several times, keeping the villagers under constant trepidation. Locals fled their homes for fear of being ambushed and killed. A week before, three security officers were killed as they rushed to rescue their colleagues involved in another attack in Pandanguo, Lamu, about 30 kilometres away from Salama-Juhudi. In January 2022, terrorists killed two men and burned down five houses. This was the second incident after a year and half. 

Source: https://www.persecution.org/