The attackers targeted the vehicles on an isolated stretch of highway, opening fire on the bus's tyres and windscreen.
One person was killed and seven others injured on Monday night (2 September) after gunmen attacked a bus and a private vehicle plying the Moyale-Nairobi route.
The incident happened at Maya-Qate near Dambala Fachana area in Sololo on the Moyale-Marsabit highway at 10.30 pm.
Moyale sub-county deputy county commissioner Benedict Munywoki told Nation.Africa on Tuesday, September 3, that the deceased was a passenger in a Toyota Land Cruiser bound for Marsabit.
“We lost one passenger who was shot in the head while seven others who were traveling in a Nairobi-bound bus sustained gunshot wounds and are hospitalised in stable condition,” Mr Munywoki said.
The unidentified assailants opened fire on the bus, which was carrying 50 passengers, and the Toyota Land Cruiser behind it.
The attackers tried to ambush the two vehicles along the uninhabited stretch of Maya-Qate, where they ordered the drivers to stop, but when they refused, the gunmen opened fire on the front tyres and windscreens.
“Salama Bus, which was heading from Moyale to Nairobi, was sprayed with bullets by unknown people and the driver managed to drive through,” a police report on the incident reads in part.
Video footage seen by Nation.Africa reveals the aftermath of the attack, showing the bullet-riddled bus with injured passengers being evacuated to safety using private vehicles, including Probox cars.
Mr Abdullahi Yaro, 35, was shot in the head and died on the way to hospital.
The deceased passenger was shot in the company of his twin brother, who was driving the Toyota Land Cruiser at the time of the incident. The driver escaped unhurt.
The seven bus passengers sustained various soft tissue injuries ranging from left shoulder, left thigh, right ankle, abdomen and chest. One woman was shot in the ribs.
Their conditions have been controlled and they are in stable condition at Sololo Mission Hospital, where they were taken for emergency treatment.
The body of the deceased was taken from the health facility for burial.
The bullets damaged the windscreen of the bus and flattened the front tyres of the two vehicles, but the drivers managed to drive away in a hail of bullets to a less dangerous area before seeking help from the police.
According to Mr Munywoki, the attackers were still at large by midday on Tuesday and multi-agency security units had been deployed to hunt them down in the thicket.
The motive behind the attack has not yet been established as no group has claimed responsibility.
The attack comes barely two weeks after seven people were shot dead by suspected militants in the Eldimtu area on the Forolle-Turbi road in the North Horr constituency on August 13.
The attackers, who survivors said were from neighbouring Ethiopia, were dressed in military uniforms and heavily armed. They sprayed a truck with bullets, killing the seven on the spot and injuring two others.
A 16-year-old survivor recounted the ugly ordeal as she watched fellow passengers being slaughtered at 2 am before the lorry was set ablaze.
In the same week as the Eldimtu attack, two South Koreans were abducted by unknown assailants on the grounds of the Odda Mission Church (OMC) Secondary School.
David Lee and his mother-in-law Hiwi Sokk Cheon were abducted by unknown assailants on August 12, 2024.
Police have yet to determine the whereabouts of the victims or even the identity of their captors.
However, local residents believe that the kidnappers, who were armed with rifles, may be part of the Somalia-based al-Shabaab network.
National security teams have launched a search operation to locate and secure the release of the kidnapped missionaries.
The operation includes ground patrols, aerial surveillance and intelligence gathering.
Moyale sub-county has witnessed a wave of gang attacks, particularly on the Dabel gold mines and even on the police stationed in the area.
In the recent past, two miners were shot dead at the closed gold mines - an incident that also led to the killing of two police officers by a mob allegedly seeking revenge for the death of one of their own.
Two weeks ago, a high-level security delegation from Kenya met with their Ethiopian counterparts in Addis Ababa to find a way to defuse escalating tensions along the Kenya-Ethiopia-Kenya border.
The security meeting, which took place on August 22, 2024, reportedly focused on Ethiopian militants working with al-Shabab in Somalia.
The Ethiopian militants, known as the Oromo Liberation Army or Shene, operate along the Kenya-Ethiopia border and are largely involved in illegal mining, arms trafficking and smuggling.
Mercy Simiyu contributed to this report.
