On 10 October 2018, two Christian teachers were killed by suspected al-Shabaab militants in Mandera County, north-eastern Kenya. According to a report by the Kenyan Standard, the attackers first threw explosives into the teachers" house at Arabia Boys Secondary School at night and then opened fire. Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, reflects: "Over the years, Christians in north-eastern Kenya have been targeted for both large-scale and smaller attacks and have suffered immense persecution at the hands of al-Shabaab militants. Only in February 2018, two Christian teachers and a wife were killed in a nighttime raid on a school in Wajir. There have been suggestions that al-Shabaab has been weakened and is no longer in a position to mastermind attacks, especially outside Somalia. These October killings are a reminder that the militant group is still potent enough to carry out attacks, choosing Christians as soft targets."