The shallow graves of at least twelve ethnic Somalis were said to have been discovered on the outskirts of Mandera, a town near Kenya-Somalia border.
One of the deceased has been identified by residents as “Isnina”, a mother of five, who went missing just four days ago.
Witnesses say two Kenya Defense Forces soldiers in separate Toyota Probox vehicles arrested Isnina after abducting her from her small hotel opposite Furqan mosque in Mandera.
The individuals are thought to have been killed by Kenya’s security forces following a string of deadly attacks against non-Muslims by Islamic militant group al-Shabaab.
According to a situation report given to me, the Manda Area Councilor had been organizing a demonstration to protest disappearance of a woman -one among many disappearances that residents believe are being carried out by security forces.
Last year al-Shabaab massacred dozens in separate bus and quarry attacks in Mandera county.
The bodies of 11 ethnic Somalis were discovered in Wajir last May, a town not far from where the Somali militants group killed at least 150 people at a university in Garissa county.
Further documentation of against ethnic Somalis by security forces was published by Kenya National Human Rights Commision in a report called “The Error of Fighting Terror with Terror”.
The spokesman for the Kenya Defense Forces deny involvement with these disappearances.
The Kenya government has in the past said the deaths of ethnic Somalis were due to clan conflict.
A Security news source claims the bodies discovered in the mass graves belong to police informants and defectors whose murders al-Shabaab leaders had ordered.
Kenya Intelligence & Police Informers & Al-Shabaab Defectors Found Killed & Buried in Mass Graves
Not everyone agrees.
@OnyangoMoses2 These killings are not clan conflicts but suspected extra judicial killings by our security forces engaged in war on terror.
The Kenya government want to justify their stay in Somalia by killing innocent women in Mandera #StopKillingSomalis @insecurityke @hrw
Isnina’s remains were schedule to be exhumed today.
There are no further reports indicating that more bodies were found in the same “mass” grave.
Al-Shabaab commander Abdurahman Mohamed Kuno Gamadheere aka Dulyadeen
informative post, thanks
Thanks for reading. Turns out there was no mass grave. However this does not minimize significance of the one shallow grave with the murdered woman. The government was quick to tell media that her murder was justified since she was alleged to be cooking for al-Shabaab.