Radical muslims suspected to have killed Sheikh Marangi

There is tension in Mombasa following the shooting of a Muslim cleric yesterday night. Even though no riots have ensued so far as it always happens following such incidents, a source has informed the Kenya Forum that there is heavy police patrol in the region.

Sheikh Marangi, who is said to be a moderate cleric, was shot outside Bilal mosque in Likoni and died while undergoing treatment.

According to the police, the sheikh was shot three times, twice in the abdomen and once in the arm, by two attackers who were on a motorbike.

Mombasa County Police Commander, Robert Kitur, said that the assailants remain unknown but maintained that investigations were underway.

Speculations are however rife that the slain sheikh was probably killed by extremists Muslims in the region since he was a peace activist who was working closely with the government to stump out radicalization of youths in Mombasa.

“He was a member of the Mombasa peace committee and was helping the government a lot in dealing with radicalization and guiding Muslim youth towards the right path,” said Francis Auma, Programs Coordinator, Haki Africa (a local Muslim rights group)

Sheikh Marangi becomes the latest Muslim cleric to be murdered in Mombasa in what has somehow become the order of the day in the region.

In June, Sheikh Mohammed Idris, chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK), was killed by assailants at a mosque in the same area.

Muslim activists continue to condemn the killings and in most cases, the police has been accused in perpetrating the extrajudicial killings.