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LAMU, Kenya – A white man speaking “fluent British English” led suspected Al-Shabab commandos who ransacked towns in northern Kenya leaving 60 people dead, witnesses have said.

Several people in Mpeketoni, which was attacked by as many as 40 Islamist gunmen on Sunday, told The Daily Telegraph that the gang’s leader was pale-skinned and spoke English and Arabic.

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One of the witnesses is a primary schoolteacher who speaks good English, unlike many people in the remote corner of Kenya near the Lamu archipelago that earlier this week became the country’s latest terror target.

The accounts strengthened suggestions that the attackers were part of a well-trained team sent by Al-Shabab under the co-ordination of an experienced foreign jihadi now working with the Somali Islamists.

“I saw a white man who was speaking in fluent British English commanding the rest of the attackers,” said Mary Gachoki, who lives in Mpeketoni.