Source: www.persecution.org
Date: August 23, 2023
Kenya (International Christian Concern) — Suspected al-Shabaab terrorists killed two people in Kenya on Tuesday and burned down ten homes and a church. In a separate incident, the terrorists killed two motorists in an ambush on a local road.
At 2:00 a.m., an International Christian Concern (ICC) staffer received a distress call from the pastor of the Redeemed Gospel church in Salama village. The pastor said, “We are under attack from terrorists. They have set our church on fire, and they are going about torching other houses.”
The Somali based al-Shabaab militants were targeting the church and nearby homes after two earlier attacks on June 25 and July 12. Residents have been camping in a school where they stay overnight and go to their farms in the morning.
After one of the incidents, the commanding officer of Lamu West said, “the attacks were well coordinated but the security apparatus was on top of things and repulsed the gunmen before they could claim more deaths.”
A security officer said they chased the assailants into the vast Boni forest, which has been a key hiding place for the terrorist group that has claimed a dozen lives in the past two months.
In a separate attack, two motorists were killed when the al-Shabaab group ambushed vehicles traveling the Lamu Garsen road. A police officer told ICC, “The gunmen asked travelers to recite the Islamic shahada if they wanted to spare their lives. Two of the travelers declined, and that’s when they were shot dead.”
This is the second road attack after two people were killed on Aug.1 at the same spot and in the same manner.
The Al Qaeda-allied terrorist group has intensified attacks on Christians in Lamu for the last three months, forcing more than 300 families to leave their homes.
HOW TO PRAY: Pray for comfort for the families that are grieving. Pray for provision for those who lost their homes. Pray for strength and support for the church that was targeted.