Graphic Photos: Jihadists kill 28 people on Kenyan bus after asking passengers to prove they're not 'infidels'

Islamic Shebab extremists ambushed a bus in Kenya before executing 28 non-Muslims at point-blank range in a revenge attack for police raids on mosques in the troubled city of Mombasa. According to  DailyMail, the heavily-armed gunmen ambushed the bus early this morning as it headed for Nairobi from Mandera, a town that lies on the border with Somalia. The extremists reportedly separated the Muslims from the 28 victims by forcing them to read versus from the Koran. Those that failed were shot in the head at point-blank range. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT, continue...

After the ambush, a Shebab spokesman said the 'perishing of the crusaders' was in retribution for last week's raids 'against Muslim brethren' in Mombasa, which heightened tensions in the city.The death toll - which included 19 men and nine women - was confirmed by Kenya's Red Cross, which said it was attempting to retrieve the victims' bodies from the scene.Regional police chief Noah Mwavinda also told AFP. 'I can confirm... that 28 innocent travellers were brutally executed by the Shebab.'

Some 60 passengers were on board the bus when it was seized by the gunmen.  Gunmen waved down the bus before spraying it with bullets when it did not stop. They then shot a rocket-propelled grenade at the vehicle, before commandeering the bus off the road .  They ordered the passengers to get off the vehicle before separating the travellers into Muslims and non-Muslims.The militants then ordered the non-Muslims to reboard the bus.

But when the bus got stuck in the mud, the group of ten militants trooped the prisoners outside before carrying out the executions. They then fled to Somalia.  One passenger told the BBC that the victims were shot in the head at point-blank range after being forced to read verses from the Koran.Three people who were due to be killed were reportedly spared after managing to successfully recite some of the verses.  

Ahmed Mahatsaid: 'When we got down, passengers were separated according to Somali and non-Somalis.  

Kenya Air Force personnel load the bodies of passengers who were killed during the ambush on a Nairobi-bound bus outside Mandera town, near Kenya's border with Somalia and Ethiopia

The bodies of passengers who were killed arrive at the Chiro

'The non-Somalis were ordered to read some verses of the holy Koran, and those who failed to read were ordered to lie down. One by one they were shot in the head at point blank range.' Some of the dead were public servants who were heading to Nairobi for the Christmas holiday.  Police Inspector General David Kimaiyo told reporters that 19 men and nine women were killed.He said: 'Preliminary reports indicate that the attackers, who were heavily armed, later fled towards the border into Somalia.' Ahmed Maalim, an official at the Mandera East sub-county security force, said three were spared after reciting Koran verses. 

After news of the incident broke out, the Red Cross said the response team was with security personnel at the scene in an attempt to retrieve bodies from scene.