Tension as miner is found murdered at quarry in Mandera

FILE IMAGE OF A POLICE LINE

Detectives are investigating the murder of a miner at a quarry in Quramadhoo area, Elwak, Mandera County.

The body of Naftali Wanjohi, 40 was on June 16, 2025 found at the site hours after his murder.

Police said his skull had a fracture, his left ear had been chopped off and had deep cuts on the neck and hand.

Police said the deceased and colleagues were at a quarry site when they were attacked. The colleagues managed to escape unhurt.

The motive of the attack and murder is yet to be known. Police suspect a militia from a local clan was involved in the murder.

The body was moved to the mortuary pending autopsy and investigations.

This comes two months after four other quarry workers were killed in a similar attack while on the way to their workplace in Bur Abor Village in Mandera East, Mandera County.

Police in the area linked the attack on suspected al-Shabaab militants who had been spotted in the area.

They were identified as Mbaabu Karuma, Stephen Mambo, Evas Simiyu, Bernard Masika and George Kilobi.

All the victims were non-locals who were working at a quarry for a living when they were attacked on April 29.

Police who visited the scene said 39 empty cartridges of 7.62 special and two live rounds were recovered.

The other 13 passengers were able to escape the attack and are all accounted for after all were recovered from the bushy terrain.

The driver and his co-driver who were supposed to carry the security with them but did not, were arrested and placed in custody to assist with the investigation, police said.

The victims have been excavating stones for construction in the area.

Witnesses said the militants ambushed a vehicle with the workers by blocking the road with stones before embarking on their mission.

The workers usually spend the nights in Mandera town for security reasons before they are picked up to the quarries.

Some workers managed to escape.

Most of the quarries in the area are dominated by non-locals.

Security teams who were patrolling the area responded to the scene but found the gang had escaped.

Tension mounted in the area as security officials arrived in search for the gang behind the latest attack.

This is not the first time such an incident has happened in the area amid operations to address al-Shabaab threats.

Witnesses said the attackers were armed with rifles when they struck and ordered the workers to lie down.

They then shot them at close range. The area is under the multi-agency security operation and is near the Kenya-Somalia border.

The multi-agency operation seeks to flush out the militants from the.

This has seen a significant reduction in such incidents.

The area has been facing an increase in terror-related attacks.