The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility, but the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta asserted that the attacks were organized by local politicians with ties to a network of gangs.
On 15 June 2014, about 50 masked gunmen hijacked a van[1][2] and raided a police station in the predominantly Christian town of Mpeketoni, Kenya.
[7] Although no group immediately claimed responsibility for the first attack, Kenyan army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the "assailants [are] likely to be Al-Shabaab".
Kenyatta asserted that local politicians, who were connected with a network of gangs, had instigated the attacks, and dismissed Al-Shabaab's claim of responsibility.
[7] Correspondents from the area conjectured that ethnic Somali or Oromo residents may have perpetrated the attack and attempted to deflect blame onto Al-Shabaab by using the group's flag as a guise.