A group of Christians have been killed in Kenya after refusing to recite the Islamic creed.
According to the persecution watchdog International Christian Concern, the group was separated from their Muslim friends before being instructed to pay homage to the Prophet Muhammad by reciting the “Shahada.” When they refused, they were summarily executed.
“A passenger bus belonging to Medina Bus Company, traveling between Wajir and Mandera was attacked by a criminal gang at around 1730 hours this evening, ” a local Kenyan police officer confirmed to ICC. “The attack happened at Maadathe area, five kilometers to Kotulo. Lives are believed to have been lost.”
The group was accosted while traveling on a bus towards the North-Eastern city of Mandera. Everyone present was then told they must recite the Shahada. Those who couldn’t were marched off the bus and shot at point-blank range. It is thought that the attack was perpetrated by al-Shabaab militants.
Two further passengers currently missing are presumed to be dead.
“I am deeply saddened to learn of the heinous bus attack near Kotulo, Wajir today around 5:00 p.m. where 10 passengers were killed [or are missing],” said the governor of Mandera, Ali Roba, on Facebook. “I am informed that the suspected al-Shabaab fighters cowardly segregated non-locals heading to Mandera from Nairobi. It is extremely sad and humanly disturbing to learn that, yet again, they segregated locals from non-locals before killing those they believed to be non-locals.”
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred.
Just last year, two men were shot dead after refusing to recite the Islamic creed. Prior to that, in 2014, some 28 teachers traveling to Nairobi for the Christmas holiday were gunned down after being forced to try and recite the Shahada.
There have been stories of hope, however. Indeed, on several occasions, Jesus-followers have had their lives saved through the incredible bravery of Muslims.
As Faithwire previously reported, in July, a group of Muslim construction workers saved their Christian colleagues from certain death after warning them of an impending attack.
The workers bussed their fellow Christian workers away from the building site and even confronted the Al-Shabaab fighters when they showed up. Despite the militants opening fire, incredibly, no lives were lost.
“We pray for the families of the deceased and for peace to come to a region that has seen increased violence toward Christians who are just trying to survive,” ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Nathan Johnson, said of the most recent attack. “We hope that the government will take effective action to stop the senseless killing of so many Christians in Kenya at the hands of Islamic extremists like al-Shabaab. We praise God as the refuge and strong tower that He is for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ who continue to endure so much.”