Mandera massacre: Smell of death still evident in targeted bus

The smell of death repels you as you step inside Makkah 103 travel bus where 28 passengers were plucked from and shot at close range at Arabia in Mandera County on Saturday morning.

Now parked outside Mandera divisional police headquarters with its cargo intact, the bus is the only testimony of the sordid tale of the massacre at dawn at a place where police officers acknowledge is most notorious owing to proximity with the border.

Parked next to the bus is the police truck that collected the bodies of the victims. Its rear door is opened, revealing blood and strands of human flesh and brains which spilled over in the rickety ride to Mandera.

The militants had blown off the victim’s heads at close range, disgorging their insides which, once dried, will have to be scooped off the lorry.

Beneath the two vehicles, numerous stray dogs, numbering about 15, camp under the shade. They can smell blood but they cannot see from where.

“We brought the bus here and we have managed to secure the integrity of its state. So far no one has come to claim the luggage. We have put in place an elaborate scheme of identification of luggage, “ County Police Commander Noah Mwivanda told The Standard.

Welcoming you inside the bus is the inscription “Yaa Rabbi Safari Salaama Amin” on the upper door of the bus entrance, supposedly wishing you a safe journey. In sharp contrast to that message, the only three bullets that hit the bus are on the passenger door below.

One bullet shattered the door screen and hit the passenger on the row directly opposite the door. She was the first victim in the orgy of killings that ensued a short while later.

“When the shot rang and shattered the screen, the driver shouted at them to stop messing the bus because he had agreed to stop. He had no idea it was neither a bandit attack nor a forceful military check,” Abdi Nassir, the bus conductor told The Standard.

They fired twice more and shouted back at the driver: “You are only worried about the bus. Don’t worry, we will pay. Just tell us how much it is.” About four attackers got inside the bus and pushed all the passengers to the back.

50 ATTACKERS

Two other groups of attackers escorted the bus on the sides and one went ahead.

Nassir says the attackers told them to drive on until they meet another group of attackers ahead.

But it had rained heavily and dawn was giving way to the day.

According to Nassir, all the attackers spoke Somali but one spoke fine Swahili. He says he approximately saw 50 attackers, a sharp contrast to the figure of “between 12 and 15” given by police.

“We had not gone very far off the main road when we came across a muddy part of the road. We told them the bus could not cross the part but they insisted. We tried but the bus slid sideways and eventually got stuck. They ordered us to scoop the mud,” Nassir says.

They set on the business of rescuing the bus off the mud as passengers crossed their fingers. The bus wouldn’t move and the longer they tried, the faster daylight approached.

“They said okay, if the bus is notmoving why don’t we settle it out here. Some stood on the door with spotlights and ordered us out one by one. When you got to the door, they would shine the spotlight on you and if you looked like a Somali you would be told to go to one side and if non-Somali the other side,” Nasir narrates.

In a short while, 30 seemingly non-Somalis stood on one side and 29 seemingly Somalis on the other. In the melee, one passenger broke off in a frantic run and was shot at several times before disappearing into the bush.

Back at the bus, the militants asked the group of the non-Somalis if any of them were Muslims.

“Two people said yes and were given a small test on Muslim prayers. They both passed and the attackers asked them to join the other group,” Nassir recounted.

The non-Somalis were then lined up together on the side of the road and shot at close range, one by one.

Nasir said after the last shot rang, the attackers fled in different directions but warned the survivors to leave as well.

“We were left behind to scoop the mud to free the bus. It was not until 7:30am that Arabia police came over. They told us they had heard gunshots,” Nassir recounted.

Nassir said the attackers were Al-Shabab fighters as they were wearing military fatigues and had heavy weaponry, including missiles.

BUS OF DEATH

Besides, he says, they appeared to confirm their identity.

“We asked them if they could spare them and they asked if they were any special than the women and men being killed in Somalia and Mombasa every day,” he said.

When police arrived, they pulled out the bus from the mud and carried the bodies to Mandera. The survivors too hopped onto the bus of death and were driven to Mandera Police Station to record statements before being released.

At Makkhah bus office in Mandera town, the David Owido and Steven Odhiambo were yesterday celebrating the invisible of hand of God. The two are electricians who had arrived in Mandera a week ago on a short contract.

“We were to travel on the same bus but we missed seats. They said we could stand in the bus alley until Wajir and take seats when some people disembark. We agreed to the deal but the person we sent to get the tickets backed off and came back empty-handed. We quarrelled him not knowing he was saving us,” Owido said.

They were determined travel to Nairobi and were booked on “Desert Fox”, which has been grounded in Mandera.

“We are putting final touches on an escort arrangement where all buses leave at once and in a convoy. Until then, we are not allowing buses to leave. And when we do, we will avoid the Arabia route. They will go to Wajir via Ramu and El Wak,” the county commander said.