Kenyan Muslims defended Christians during an attack by Islamist gunmen on a bus near the Somali border, the BBC reports.

A local governor told Kenyan media Muslims had told the attackers to “kill them together or leave them alone”.

At least two people were killed in the attack, however, near the north-eastern village of El Wak. The bus was en route from Nairobi to Mandera, where Christians have been singled out and killed.

Al-Shabaab is suspected of carrying out the attack, although the Islamist group has not yet claimed responsibility. Al-Shabaab was responsible for the April attack on Garissa University, when Christians were singled out and 148 were killed.

Last year, a bus was attacked near Mandera by Al-Shabaab militants, who killed 36 non-Muslims travelling to Nairobi for Christmas celebrations.