Kenya: Al-Shabaab beheads 4 people in coastal area

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – Four Kenyans from a coastal province bordering Somalia were beheaded by al-Shabaab militants on Wednesday morning, police have confirmed.

The four people “were killed early on Wednesday morning when the militants attacked” in Lamu County in the Coast Province of the East African nation, a police officer speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions to speaking to the media told Anadolu Agency.

He added that the four were from the villages of Bobo and Silini in Hindi Lamu.

Lamu County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo also confirmed the attack to local media.

Hundreds of locals on Wednesday went to the streets to protest the killing, burning tires and blocking roads with boulders, crippling traffic in protest of both the murders and the slow response by Kenyan security forces.

Due to its close proximity to the porous Kenya-Somali border, Lamu County has witnessed numerous attacks from the Somali based al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab militant group, which has claimed more than 20 lives in the past three weeks.

On July 8, the militants beheaded nine Kenyans in the Jima Area close to the scene of Wednesday’s attack.