Al-Shabab kill dozens in attack on Kenya mine

Al-Shabab claim responsibility for the attack on a stone
quarry that left at least 36 people dead.

At least 36 people have been killed in an attack on a stone
quarry in Mandera, northern Kenya, local sources told Al
Jazeera.
About 20 gunmen, described by the Kenyan government as
"heavily armed bandits" opened fire at the quarry in the
early hours of Tuesday morning after separating Muslims
and non-Muslims, sources said.
Several people were beheaded, while others were shot in
the back of the head, sources told Al Jazeera.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it
"another successful operation carried out by the
Mujahideen".
"This latest attack was part of a series of attacks planned
and executed by the Mujahideen to serve as a response to
Kenya's occupation of Muslim lands and their ongoing
atrocities therein, such as the recent air strikes on Muslims
in Somalia," al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud
Rage said in a statement emailed to journalists.
The dead are reportedly miners who worked in the
quarry, located just outside the town. Shortly before the
attack they were woken by the gunmen and forced to leave
the tents where they were sleeping.
Increased security
Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi, reporting from Nairobi, said
that the Red Cross was on the scene and that the military
and army were heading to the site, which is just 5km from
the border with Somalia.
"We are being told that many of the people who work in
the quarry are not from Mandera," she said, adding that
those killed were non-Muslims.
"This comes at a time when security in Mandera has been
beefed up because of recent attacks. We just returned from
Mandera and the security forces there assured us they are
in control of the situation, but they said that the border
there is also very porous."
The scene of the latest attack is about 30km from the
November 22 raid on a bus in which 28 non-Muslims were
separated from the Muslim travellers before being executed.
The shooting in the quarry comes after an attack on a night
club in the Kenyan town of Wajir on Monday night.
One person was killed and at least 12 injured as gunmen
hurled grenades and sprayed bullets at the building, the
government said.
The Kenyan government, in a statement, said investigations
were under way to look into both incidents.

Source: Aljazeera