Wednesday September 6, 2017
Kenya Defence Forces armoured vehicle patrols Hindi area in Lamu County on April 21, 2016. Four people were beheaded in two villages in Hindi on September 6, 2017. PHOTO | ROBERT NGUGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Four people have been beheaded in two villages in Hindi, Lamu West by suspected Al-Shabaab militants.
The attacks occurred in Silini-Mashambani and Bobo villages.
A senior administrator in the area who talked to the Nation on Wednesday morning and requested not to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media said a man was beheaded by a group of armed men at Silini-Mashambani village at 6.30pm Tuesday.
The other attack took place at 1.30am Wednesday when armed men, suspected to be Al-Shabaab militants raided Bobo village, which is about three kilometres from Silini.
ARMED
According to the administrator, the attackers were armed with AK 47 riffles and went from house to house ordering residents to come out of their houses before they beheaded three men.
Lamu County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo confirmed the killings and said they were yet to establish if the attackers were Al-Shabaab militants.
“Four people have been killed at Bobo and Silini in Hindi. We are yet to establish whether those who carried out the attacks were really Al-Shabaab.
“It is suspicious that the attackers were calling people by their names before beheading them,” said Mr Kitiyo.
The killings come barely two weeks after four people were beheaded by suspected Al-Shabaab militants at Maleli village in Witu Division, Lamu West.
PROTEST
The incident occurred on August 18.
Meanwhile, tension is high in Hindi town and its environs following the killing of the four men.
Hundreds of residents took to the streets within Hindi town to protest over insecurity and rampant killings in the region carried out by Al-Shabaab militants.
The residents urged the government to find a permanent solution to the security issues that have now become a nightmare.
Anti-riot police officers shot in the air to disperse the protestors, who had lit bonfires on the road.