By Ebi Kesiena
Six people have been killed and homes torched in a grisly attack on Monday by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in a Kenyan coastal region bordering Somalia, police and Government officials said.
One man was beheaded and five others shot or burned to death in the attack in a village in Lamu County approximately 420 kilometres (260 miles) southeast of Nairobi, police said.
Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia said the attackers were suspected jihadists from Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group based across the border in Somalia.
“Our security forces are pursuing them, and we urge support from locals to help us because when we work together we succeed,” he told AFP.
Police said the attackers stabbed and beheaded a local elder, razed his home, and shot dead another man whose body was found on a roadside nearby.
The corpses of four other men burned beyond recognition were found with their hands bound in another location, according to the police report seen by AFP.
“Also several houses were torched within the locality and property of unknown value burnt,” the report said.
However, bullet cases were recovered and an investigation is ongoing.
