Kenya: 2 motorists killed in Al-Shabaab attack

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Somalia-based al-Shabaab militants on Thursday shot and killed two motorists in Kenya's Tana River County, according to both local residents and officials.

The al-Qaeda-affiliated militants ambushed the two motorists -- one in a Toyota Probox and the other in a truck -- and sprayed their vehicles with bullets.

Calling on the government of the east African country to offer them more security, residents of the Lango la Simba area posted pictures of the vehicles on social media.

Survivors from the Toyota were rushed to Witu Hospital in Lamu.

Confirming the attack to local media, Riziki Ali Tana Delta Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) said that the two vehicles were on a road leading to the town of Witu from Minjila in Tana River County.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity, an officer who was at the scene said, "The place has witnessed attacks in the past. It is unfortunate that we lost the two drivers. Security has been heightened in the area following the attack."

In the past two months over 40 people have been killed by al-Shabaab militants along the Kenyan coast, including 20 police officers patrolling the porous Kenya-Somali border.