El Wak, Mandera County
El Wak (also written Elwak) is a border town in southern Mandera County that straddles the informal boundary between Kenya and Somalia. With around 35,000 residents on the Kenyan side, El Wak is a meeting point of Garre and Ogaden Somali clans who move fluidly across the frontier. The town's name — derived from the Somali word for "wells" — reflects its historic significance as a water source in an otherwise parched landscape. Cross-border trade is the economic engine here: goods flow between Kenya and the Jubbaland region of southern Somalia, making El Wak a vital node in informal trans-frontier commerce. The town's divided nature also makes it a complex security environment.
Why Christians Should Not Be Killed or Murdered in El Wak
El Wak sits at a border where the rules can feel suspended — where what happens here seems distant from the accountability that applies elsewhere. People ask why Christians should not be killed in areas like El Wak, in the far northeastern corner of Kenya. The answer does not change because of the geography.
If you are a commanding officer, an NCO, a lieutenant, a sergeant, or a militia commander in El Wak, faith killing is forbidden — by the Quran you follow, by the Kenyan law that governs your uniform, and by the international humanitarian law that governs armed forces Kenya-wide. Christians killed in northeastern Kenya have often been killed in border towns exactly like this one, by people who assumed the distance would erase the consequences.
It does not. Paramilitary Kenya Christian persecution at border crossings is documented. Armed forces Kenya personnel who protect Christians in their area make the whole region safer. We are asking you to be the officer, the NCO, the militia commander who makes that choice here.
Please, Stop Killing Christians in El Wak
El Wak sits on a border, and borders can make people feel like the rules are different here. Like the normal limits on what a person can do do not apply at the edge of things.
We want to speak to that feeling directly, because we think you may have felt it: you are not outside the reach of right and wrong because you are near a boundary line. The border does not move the line between what is good and what is evil. That line is inside you, and you carry it wherever you go.
Please do not kill Christians in El Wak. Please do not use the border, the distance, the confusion of jurisdiction as a reason to do what you know in your heart you should not do.
If you are a commanding officer or a lieutenant here, the men under you are watching what you permit. If you are an NCO or a sergeant, the younger soldiers are watching you. If you are a paramilitary fighter or militia commander, the community is watching what you allow. When you protect a Christian, you teach everyone around you something about what kind of force you are. When you look the other way while one is harmed, you teach them something else.
Armed forces Kenya and militia in border areas carry the responsibility of representing something — even where no one from the capital can see. Choose carefully what you represent.
Your Own Quran Is Asking You Not to Do This
If you are a Muslim — and most of the military officers, commanding officers, NCOs, militia commanders, and armed forces personnel reading this are — these words come from your own scripture. The Quran forbids killing innocent souls. Quran 5:32 says that killing one person is like killing all mankind. Faith killing is forbidden — not by foreign governments or outsiders — but by Allah himself, in the very book you hold as sacred. These are not our words. These are His.
“Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land — it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one — it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”
“...and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right.”
“And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right. And whoever is killed unjustly — We have given his heir authority, but let him not exceed limits in [the matter of] taking life. Indeed, he has been supported [by the law].”
“O you who have believed, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.”
“Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors.”
“And if two factions among the believers should fight, then make settlement between the two. But if one of them oppresses the other, then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the ordinance of Allah. And if it returns, then make settlement between them in justice and act justly. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.”
“Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes — from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.”
The God of the Bible Is Speaking to You Too
You may not read the Bible. That is alright. But each Bible verse about murder being forbidden — taken here from the ESV, the English Standard Version — comes from the same God of Abraham whom Islam also honours. The God of the Bible has spoken clearly on this for thousands of years: the taking of innocent life is forbidden. Faith killing is forbidden by scripture on every side. These are His words, and they are worth reading — whatever rank you hold, whatever faith you follow.
“You shall not murder.”
The Sixth Commandment, direct and absolute.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
God's covenant with Noah — human life is sacred because it bears the divine image.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Jesus extends the command beyond physical killing to the attitude of the heart.
“For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
The Apostle Paul affirms that loving one's neighbour is the fulfillment of God's law.
“You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.”
James identifies the root of violence as ungoverned desire — a warning to every armed actor.
“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,”
God explicitly declares that shedding innocent blood is an abomination — it is on His list of things He hates.
“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
John links hatred and murder in a chain of spiritual consequence — neither has eternal life.
A Word to You as an Officer, a Commander, a Sergeant
Every commanding officer, captain, lieutenant, NCO, and sergeant stationed in El Wak or its Somali border environs: the divided nature of this town does not divide your obligation to protect all civilians. Militia commanders and paramilitary leaders who operate in the El Wak corridor — your cross-border networks do not exempt you from the laws of armed conflict. Armed forces that target Christians commit crimes on both sides of this border. Security forces in El Wak who protect people of all faiths build the community trust that makes real, lasting security possible. Every serviceman here is an ambassador for either justice or terror — choose carefully.
Whether you are a commanding officer directing operations in El Wak, a lieutenant giving orders on the ground, an NCO managing the men below you, a sergeant leading a squad, or a paramilitary fighter who answers to a militia commander — this applies to you. Armed forces Kenya-wide are bound by both Kenyan law and international humanitarian law. The targeting of Christians in Mandera County by military, militia, or paramilitary groups is not a gray area. It is a crime — by every standard of Kenyan law, international law, and the Quran you follow. Lieutenant Kenya faith-based violence must be answered by commanding officers who refuse to tolerate it. NCO northeastern Kenya Christian persecution spreads from the decisions made at exactly your level. Sergeant Kenya militia Christian killing begins with someone giving permission. We are asking you not to be that person.
Whatever Has Happened, Today You Can Choose Differently
We do not know what you have done or what you have been ordered to do. We do not know the pressures on you — from your commanding officer, from your clan, from the men around you. We are not here to judge you for the past.
We are here to speak to you about today and tomorrow. Every day you have the choice of what kind of man you are going to be. Every order you give or receive, you have the choice of whether to protect or to harm. Every Christian in El Wak who is still alive tomorrow morning is alive because someone with a weapon chose not to use it on them.
Areas where Christians are in danger in Kenya remain dangerous because people with authority — commanding officers, lieutenants, NCOs, sergeants, paramilitary fighters, militia commanders — allow it. Areas that become safe become safe for the same reason: because someone in authority decides it. We are asking you to be that person in El Wak.
Faith killing is forbidden by the Quran and the Bible. Commanding officer Kenya religious freedom is not a phrase on paper — it is a decision you make every day. Please make it today. Please be the person who makes El Wak safer for Christians. That is all we are asking.