Muslims Stand With Christians in Islamist Attack in Kenya

Al Shabab gives up when bus passengers refuse to separate from potential terror victims

A group of Kenyans thwarted an attack from Islamic jihadists early this week, not by force but by an act of love.

The Somali based al-Shabab ambushed a bus traveling from Nairobi to the town of Mandera and apparently tried to do the same thing they did when they attacked Garissa University College in April, shooting Christians but freeing Muslims. That attack left 148 people dead.

But in the latest incident, Muslims on the bus refused to be split into groups, according to the BBC, quoting eyewitnesses. The militants decided to leave after the passengers’ show of unity.

They told the militants “to kill them together or leave them alone,” a local governor told Kenyan media.

At least two people were killed in the attack, near the northeastern village of El Wak on the Somali border.

“The locals showed a sense of patriotism and belonging to each other,” Mandera governor Ali Roba told Kenya’s private Daily Nation newspaper.

“The Shabaab now know that they do not have the support of the Muslim community,” said Bishop Joseph Alessandro of Garissa, according to Fides News Agency. “We hope that we continue in this direction.”