Stranded Kenyan workers demand evacuation after Islamist attack
Thu Nov 27, 2014 4:18pm GMT
MANDERA, Kenya Nov 27 (Reuters) - Scores of teachers and civil servants were
stranded at a remote Kenyan airstrip on Thursday, demanding evacuation and
protection five days after Islamist gunmen killed 28 non-Muslim bus
passengers in the surrounding border region near Somalia.
Somalia's al Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack
in the Mandera area, where gunmen commandeered the Nairobi-bound bus, then
killed anyone who could not recite verses from the Koran.
Many people fled, and unions representing teachers and health workers in the
area advised members to leave for their own safety.
More than 100 children and pregnant women were evacuated on Tuesday. But
more than 100 people were still waiting at the airstrip, including state
school teachers and others who had moved to the area to work in government
posts.
"I have decided never to return to Mandera," said 27-year-old teacher Cates
Mugo, adding that she might leave by road as the chance of being flown out
now seemed remote.
Around her, families laid out cloths on the red earth, saying they were
afraid of being targeted in another attack.
Many Kenyans blame the government for not doing enough to protect its
citizens from al Shabaab, which has carried out a string of assaults in the
country.
"The feeling of the general public is that it may not have received the
level of attention that it ought to have received considering 28 Kenyans
have been butchered," Mandera County Governor Ali Roba told Reuters.
He said security had been boosted and military helicopters were patrolling
the area, which had been hit by seven attacks using improvised bombs in the
past two months, including one targeting his own convoy.
Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab says it wants to punish Nairobi for contributing
troops to an African Union peacekeeping force in war-torn Somalia.
The exodus of teachers and other civil servants would increase the isolation
of Mandera, one of Kenya's poorest areas, Roba said.
"Mandera generally has not been able to attract enough personnel, and we
have really serious concerns that this will really hamper service delivery,"
he added.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Wednesday the security forces would
do more but added "there will never be one policeman for every citizen," so
Kenyans had to help too.
Critics on social media said the comments were "callous" and showed the
government's inability to secure the nation. (Writing by Edith Honan in
Nairobi; Editing by Edmund Blair and Andrew Heavens)