For Kenyan soldiers, it was a gruesome discovery.
Still photos show the graphic aftermath of a mass murder in northeast Kenya, where Somali al Shabaab militants killed at least 36 non-Muslims, beheading at least two of them.
The victims were workers at a quarry.
A local village elder says the men were asleep in their tents when the militants crept up on them around 1 a.m. local time Tuesday.
Most of the workers were shot in the head.
The attack was in revenge for Kenya's military action against al Shabaab in neighboring Somalia.
Opponents of the government say Kenyan troops in Somalia have done too little to secure the country but Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says they face a determined enemy.
SOUNDBITE: KENYAN PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA SAYING:
"The obvious intent is to create hostility and and suspicion across ethnic and religious lines and to drive non Muslims from certain parts of the country...Dear Kenyans, a time has come for each