A courageous Christian woman has confronted a gang of Al-Shabaab militants in Kenya.
The woman, named only as 'Wanduta' came face to face with the terrorists when they attacked her village in the east of the country, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
"They found me looking after my goats just a distance from my homestead,” Wanduta said in a recent interview with ICC.
“They were five in number and were armed with guns, bullet belts, explosives…and introduced themselves as Kenyan policemen."
The militants then forced Wanduta to kneel and demanded to know where her husband was.
“They were looking for men,” she continued. “They asked me where my husband was, and I told them he died last year.”
The men believed Wanduta was lying and continued to pressure her for information.
She recalled how the fighters went on to talk about their desire to declare a "fierce war between Christians and Muslims".
"They said they will wage war with Christians and whoever loses the battle shall surrender to the other," she said.
"I asked them, why are you targeting Christian men and sparing women and children, and what sin have they committed that they cannot be asked to repent and be forgiven? If you kill all men here, how will the women and their families survive?"
The militants demanded that Wanduta be quiet, but she continued to question their actions.
"They repeated that they were looking for men to kill them. I also repeated, asking them what mistake they had done to them.
"If they have been raised as Christians and you have been raised as Muslims, why are you killing them while it is God’s work to take away one’s life?”
Frustrated, the militants bundled Wanduta and another woman into a neighbour’s home and locked them inside.
After 30 minutes, Wanduta and the other woman managed to escape through a window. She rushed home to check on her five children. The house had been ransacked, she said, but her children were all safe.
“My daughter had seen another group of five coming towards the house and hid under the bed," Wanduta explained. "They did not see her. My son saw them and ran to hide in the nearby bush."
The family fled the home and contacted local security officers.
“They responded in good time and repulsed the attackers who were determined to kill more people and loot homes,” Wanduta said.
According to ICC, two men were killed that day in Salama-Juhudi, Lamu County. Titus Muoki and Mwaura Wamwihaki were both murdered in their homes.
