--- description: The militants reportedly left the group alone after their show of unity title: Kenyan Muslims Protect Christians After Terrorists Attack Bus image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Kenyan Muslims Protect Christians After Terrorists Attack Bus by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2015 6:28 PM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2015 6:28 PM CUT A group of Kenyans traveling by bus refused Islamist terrorists demands that they identify themselves as either Christian or Muslim in an act of defiance that reportedly saved lives. According to [_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35151967 "undefined"), militants boarded a bus in a small border town and requested the passengers divide themselves up by religion. The passengers refused, the BBC reports eyewitnesses say, telling the terrorists to “kill them together or leave them alone.” Officials are looking into whether the militant group al-Shabab is responsible for the attack. Two people were reported to have been killed in the attack, but officials say the militants ultimately left after the passengers banded together. \[[BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35151967 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4157372/kenya-muslims-terrorist-christians/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4157372/kenya-muslims-terrorist-christians/"},"headline":"Kenyan Muslims Protect Christians After Terrorists Attack Bus","datePublished":"2015-12-21T18:28:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:33:08.924Z","description":"The militants reportedly left the group alone after their show of unity","url":"https://time.com/4157372/kenya-muslims-terrorist-christians/","keywords":["Terrorism","World","Kenya","BBC","al-shabab"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4157372/kenya-muslims-terrorist-christians/","name":"Kenyan Muslims Protect Christians After Terrorists Attack Bus"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Al-Shabab Vows Kenya's Streets Will 'Run Red With Blood'","description":"Somali terrorist group Al-Shabab has threatened to carry out more attacks in neighboring Kenya following its deadly assault on a university in the town of Garissa.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ufMtdsbG/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-04-04T13:55:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ufMtdsbG.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4157372/kenya-muslims-terrorist-christians/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4157372/kenya-muslims-terrorist-christians/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```