Islamic Shebab extremists ambushed a bus in Kenya before executing 28 non-Muslims at point-blank range in a revenge attack for police raids on mosques in the troubled city of Mombasa.
The heavily-armed gunmen ambushed the bus early this morning as it headed for Nairobi from Mandera, a town that lies on the border with Somalia.
The extremists reportedly separated the Muslims from the 28 victims by forcing them to read versus from the Koran. Those that failed were shot in the head at point-blank range.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
The bodies of 28 non-Muslims who were executed today by Islamic Shebab lie on the ground in Mandera, before being taken to a nearby hospital
Rescue workers walk near the Nairobi-bound bus that was ambushed outside Mandera town
Security officers gather around the bodies of those who were killed at the scene of the attack
After the ambush, a Shebab spokesman said the 'perishing of the crusaders' was in retribution for last week's raids 'against Muslim brethren' in Mombasa, which heightened tensions in the city.
The death toll - which included 19 men and nine women - was confirmed by Kenya's Red Cross, which said it was attempting to retrieve the victims' bodies from the scene.
Regional police chief Noah Mwavinda also told AFP. 'I can confirm... that 28 innocent travellers were brutally executed by the Shebab.'
Some 60 passengers were on board the bus when it was seized by the gunmen.
Gunmen waved down the bus before spraying it with bullets when it did not stop. They then shot a rocket-propelled grenade at the vehicle, before commandeering the bus off the road .
They ordered the passengers to get off the vehicle before separating the travellers into Muslims and non-Muslims.
The militants then ordered the non-Muslims to reboard the bus.
But when the bus got stuck in the mud, the group of ten militants trooped the prisoners outside before carrying out the executions. They then fled to Somalia.
One passenger told the BBC that the victims were shot in the head at point-blank range after being forced to read verses from the Koran.
Three people who were due to be killed were reportedly spared after managing to successfully recite some of the verses.
Ahmed Mahatsaid: 'When we got down, passengers were separated according to Somali and non-Somalis.
'The non-Somalis were ordered to read some verses of the holy Koran, and those who failed to read were ordered to lie down. One by one they were shot in the head at point blank range.'
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