Islamist militants thought to be from the Al-Shabaab terror group have murdered a pair of Christian teachers using an improvised explosive device (IED).
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The attack occurred in Mandera County on Kenya’s border with Somalia, where over 20 suspected Somali Al-Shabaab rebels planted a bomb at the block housing where a number of teachers live. When the device was detonated, it instantly killed two Christian educators.
“The non-local teachers were members of the Catholic Church and the East Africa Pentecostal Church,” a source in the area told Morning Star News. “The attackers knew who to attack; they had a specific mission of targeting non-locals as they went straight to the house quarters of the four non-local teachers.”
One of the teachers who managed to escape the vicious attack quickly notified others that the Arabia Boys Secondary School was coming under attack from a gang of militants.
“Thank God two of us managed to escape,” the anonymous survivor said. “They razed the house down with the hope that none of the non-local teachers survived.”
Following the latest heinous bloodshed, one local pastor said he was gravely concerned for the future of his congregation.
“I know our presence meant a lot for the kingdom of God, but our hearts have been gripped with great fear,” he noted, adding, “As a non-local pastor, I feel frightened of a possible attack on our church. My members are in a great, fearful state. We really need prayers for God’s protection.”
Over the past few days, local authorities have been tipped off about major Al-Shabaab attacks allegedly planned for the Kenya-Somalia border region. In addition, police spokesman Charles Owino noted Monday that a suspect in the teacher attack had been detained.
“Security agencies are also on alert for any possible attack by the militants targeting security installations and any other soft targets along the border between Mandera and Elwak,” Owino said, as reported by Standard Digital.
According to Reuters, the U.S. military announced Tuesday that a recent airstrike had killed “approximately sixty terrorists” from Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Previously, in November 2017, the military claimed to have wiped out around 100 militants from the Islamist group in an airstrike.
“This precision airstrike was the largest airstrike against Al-Shabaab since November 21, 2017, when U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against an Al-Shabaab camp killing approximately 100 terrorists,” U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement, according to The Hill.
AFRICOM noted that zero civilian casualties occurred as a result of the strike.
(H/T: Morning Star News)