Kenyan Troops Raid Somalia, Kill 100 Over Saturday Bus Attack

Deputy President Says Slain Were Militants and 'Sympathizers'

In a move officials say was direct retaliation for Saturday’s bus attack inside Kenya by Somalian Islamist group al-Shabaab, Kenya’s military raided al-Shabaab territory and killed “over 100” Somalis.

Exactly who these “more than 100” slain people were is unclear, as al-Shabaab insists none of the slain were actually members of their group, and Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto only said the slain were “militants and sympathizers” of al-Shabaab.

Ruto also said Kenyan forces would attack any mosques “suspected of harboring terrorists,” saying such mosques don’t deserve to be a place of worship. He also demanded Muslim religious leaders openly condemning al-Shabaab.

The Saturday bus attack killed 28 Kenyans, and reported al-Shabaab made everyone on board recite the Quran, killing those who could not as presumably not Muslims.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.