Five bodies recovered in northern Kenya

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Bodies of five Kenyans have been recovered from a shallow grave on Tuesday in Mandera County in Northern Kenya, a senior security official said.

These included bodies of four men and one woman, who were reported missing by concerned relatives five days ago.

The security official, who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said their bodies were exhumed by the area residents.

The bodies were taken to a hospital in Mandera County, where hospital officials told local media that one of the men was shot in the head while the rest were strangled to death.

Mandera Governor Ali Roba condemned the incident and termed it as one of the many cases of extrajudicial killing in the Muslim-populated Northern Kenya.

“We plan to visit the site of the grave. We don’t know those behind the killing but this seems to be well planned and executed. It is extrajudicial killing,” the Standard newspaper in Kenya quoted him as saying.

In 2015, numerous rights groups in Kenya accused security forces in Kenya of targeting Muslims over suspicion that they work and aid al-Shabaab militants to carry out attacks.