MANDERA, Kenya, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Decomposing bodies of five people who had gone missing were found in a shallow grave in Kenya's border region of Mandera, officials said on Tuesday.
The five bodies including that of a woman were found on Monday evening in a shallow grave in Bambo, Mandera County by a group of herders.
Mandera Deputy Governor Ahmed Maalim termed the incident as extrajudicial killings, saying the victims had been missing for five days and appeared to have been strangled to death except one that had a bullet wound in the head.
"We plan to visit the site of the grave. We don't know those behind the killing but this seems to be well planned and executed. It is extrajudicial killing," Maalim said.
The herders who stumbled on the suspected burial site said they were grazing their animals when they came across the grave and later alerted authorities in Mandera.
The five were reportedly picked up in Fino area by security officers who rounded up residents while demanding identities of those behind a series of landmine targets in the area.
Mandera County Police Commander Bernard Nyakwaka said the bodies have been exhumed and taken for preservation, noting that investigation has been launched to establish the motive behind the incident.
"We received reports of bodies buried in a shallow grave in Fino and they have been exhumed and taken for preservation at a local mortuary as investigations continue. It is not clear who was behind the incident and motive is not known," Nyakwaka said.
The latest incident comes after some 11 bodies were found in a shallow grave in Lanbiib on the outskirts of Wajir town in 2015.
The residents of Somali-dominated districts in northeastern region which border Somalia have repeatedly accused security agencies of being behind the arrest and disappearance of youth suspected to have links with Somali militant Islamist group Al-Shabaab.
However, the security forces have denied the allegations which come amid reports that about 200 have been reported missing in what is suspected to be forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the restive region.
