Muslim cleric gunned down in Kenya

A Muslim cleric has been murdered by unknown gunmen in a major Kenyan coastal city just weeks after another scholar was killed in the same area of the country.

Rejecting the possibility of a normal robbery, a local police commander told the press on Thursday that the 60-year-old cleric “appears to have been a target of the attackers”.

He said the victim, named Salim Mwasalim, “was shot while walking home from the nearby mosque”.

The police have started an investigation into the case to find out the motives of the murderers who had escaped the scene of the crime on a motorbike.

Ukunda, located on coast of the Indian Ocean, is one of Kenya’s prime tourist attractions.

On December 6, Hassan Mwayuyu, another Muslim preacher, was also shot dead by gunmen on a motorcycle in the same area of the country.

Mwasalim was said to be making recruitments for al-Shabab fighters in neighboring Somalia.