Passengers donated headscarves to help prevent non-Muslims being targeted after al-Shabaab militants stormed a packed vehicle

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Muslims helped dress non-Muslim passengers in Islamic garb to prevent extremists from identifying them for slaughter on a bus in northern Kenya, witnesses said.

Two people died in the attack on Monday in northern Mandera County when gunmen, believed to be part of the Somali islamist group al-Shabaab, shot at a bus and truck headed for Mandera town, the regional government coordinator, Mohamud Saleh, said.

The bus was from travelling from the capital city, Nairobi, with 60 passengers on board when it was stopped at Papa City by a group of militants who shot the windscreen, witnesses said.

Some of the Muslim passengers gave non-Muslims headscarves to try and conceal their identities when the bus stopped.

Witnesses said a man entered the bus and ordered everyone to get out and form two separate groups of non-Muslims and Muslims. One person, a non-Muslim, decided to run and was shot in the back and died, Hussein said. He said several non-Muslims managed to survive the attack thanks to the donated scarves.

Governor Hassan Joho (@HassanAliJoho) I wish to recognise heroes/heroines who stood firm & rescued their fellow Kenyans from extremists in Mandera City. https://t.co/1t0uxSie1d

billow kerrow (@bkerrow) I strongly suggest @UKenyatta honours those selfless Mandera bus passengers who refused to be divided on religious basis & saved many lives

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Kenya has experienced a wave of attacks by al-Shabaab since the government sent troops to Somalia to fight extremists in 2011.

Mandera has experienced the brunt of the violence in the past year.

In an attack in November 2014, al-Shabaab gunmen killed 28 non-Muslims who were traveling by bus, Abdrirahman Hussien, a 28-year-old teacher, said.

The following month, 36 non-Muslim quarry workers were also killed.