Residents of Bambo, Mandera County woke up to a shocking scene on Monday after the discovery of five bodies buried in a shallow grave.

The victims include a woman and four men who were reported missing by their relatives last week.

Their decomposing bodies were discovered by herders who were grazing their cattle.

According to locals who exhumed the bodies and moved them to Lafey Hospital, one of the male victims had a bullet wound on the head and the rest appeared to have been strangled.

One of the victim’s brother, Abdi Adan Orai, said his family had been looking for him since last week Friday.

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“There has been a security operation in Fino and we suspected my brother along with these other four were picked up and killed by security agents before being buried here,” Mr Orai said as quoted by Nation.

Mandera County police boss Bernard Nyakwaka said they are investigating 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,” he said.

The discovery comes days after two other bodies were discovered at Border Point One in Mandera East last Friday. They had also been reported missing by their relatives.

Mandera Deputy Governor Ahmed Maalim condemned the killings and called on police to hasten investigations.