Living with fear

Living with fear

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After two attacks in 10 days by Somalia's al Shabaab group, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has vowed to step up his "war on terror" to halt raids across the porous border and stop any dream of making an Islamic Caliphate.

Kenyans, however, have grown increasingly critical of Kenyatta for failing to do more to defend the east African nation from the incessant militant attacks, which have killed well over 200 people since 2013.

. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Stringer

Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for much of the bloodshed and says it will keep it up to persuade Kenya to pull its troops out of neighbouring Somalia, where its forces have joined other African Union troops battling the militants.

Thirty-six people were killed in an attack at a quarry, pictured above with bodies lined up on the ground, near the town of Mandera at the Kenya-Somalia border on December 2, according to Kenya's government and a witness.

. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Survivors George Mwangi (left) and Joel Warvare Karinga are pictured above at the spot where the workers were killed.

In that attack, gunmen crept up on dozens of workers sleeping in tents, a resident said, in the same area near the Somali border where a bus was hijacked just over a week ago and 28 passengers killed.

"The militia separated the Muslims, then ordered the non-Muslims to lie down where they shot them in the head at close range," said Hassan Duba, an elder at a nearby village.

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Slideshow

A Christian man prays in a church during Sunday mass.
. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

A Christian man prays in a church during Sunday mass.

A Christian man enters a church during Sunday mass.
. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

A Christian man enters a church during Sunday mass.

George Mwangi (left) and Joel Warvare Karinga, who survived an attack by Somali al Shabaab Islamist militants , look for their belongings at the quarry where 36 non-Muslim workers were killed.
. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

George Mwangi (left) and Joel Warvare Karinga, who survived an attack by Somali al Shabaab Islamist militants , look for their belongings at the quarry where 36 non-Muslim workers were killed.

Mwangi searches for his belongings.
. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Mwangi searches for his belongings.

A man rides in a donkey cart past Kenya policemen as he crosses from Kenya into Somalia at the border town of Mandera.
. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

A man rides in a donkey cart past Kenya policemen as he crosses from Kenya into Somalia at the border town of Mandera.

A Kenyan policeman talks to children crossing from Somalia to Kenya in the border town of Mandera.
. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

A Kenyan policeman talks to children crossing from Somalia to Kenya in the border town of Mandera.

Female passengers travelling to Nairobi are being searched for weapons by a plainclothes policewoman.
. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Female passengers travelling to Nairobi are being searched for weapons by a plainclothes policewoman.

Passengers travelling to Nairobi stand in front of a bus, as they wait to be searched for weapons by Kenyan police.
. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Passengers travelling to Nairobi stand in front of a bus, as they wait to be searched for weapons by Kenyan police.

Men push a bus to get the engine started.
. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Men push a bus to get the engine started.

A man looks out of a bus travelling to Nairobi, next to a police vehicle escorting it through Mandera town.
. MANDERA, Kenya. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

A man looks out of a bus travelling to Nairobi, next to a police vehicle escorting it through Mandera town.