MANDERA, Kenya, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Suspected al-Shabab militants raided a Kenyan mosque on Thursday night in the border town of Mandera and preached to Muslim faithful for several hours.
Local police said the heavily armed militants raided the Komor Haile mosque at the Kenya-Somalia border at 10 p.m. local time after Ramadan night prayers before fleeing at 2 a.m. on Friday.
A local resident said the militants forced themselves to the pulpit before snatching the microphone from the cleric who was delivering a sermon.
"They arrived when a sheikh was delivering a sermon, snatched the microphone and ordered him to sit and listen. We were shocked," said the local.
A resident said they were for hours unable to leave the village that is between Lafey and Mandera town.
A senior police officer in the area confirmed the incident, saying around 10 heavily armed militants believed to have crossed from neighboring Somalia raided the mosque and preached to the faithful for about three hours.
"About ten heavily armed al-Shabab militants entered a mosque in Fafi centre and asked for the whereabouts of area chief (local government administrator), positions of security personnel and Kenya Police Reservists (KPR) men. One of the KPR men escaped to the bush. They left later after the three hour incident," said the police officer who declined to be named.
The residents said the militants mostly launched tirade against the Kenya government, local civil servants and the security forces. It is not clear if the militants arrived on foot or used vehicles.
This is the second time the militants have preached their tirade verses - the first one being August 2015 at Hareri where they raided a mosque and preached against the Kenya government and security forces.
The preaching come barely a day after the government forced quarry workers to leave the mines for fear of an attack.
Olaka said the 27 miners will be charged in court for contravening a government order closing the quarries at the Somalia border with Kenya.