The mob emerged from the darkness two days ago, announcing their arrival by raining a hail of stones and rocks onto the wooden shacks and mud huts of Kunyak, whose villagers were seized by terror.

One 72-year-old coffee farmer bolted from his home with his wife, only to see the raiders loot his furniture as well as chickens and goats before burning down his house. By the time the mob slunk back into the darkness, the entire village was ablaze and its few thousand residents had fled to the hoped-for safety of a school.