Shabab Attack on a Kenya University Kills at Least 70

[ 02 April 2015 22:05 ]

Baku-APA. Gunmen attacked a university campus in eastern Kenya early Thursday, clashing with guards, forcing their way into dormitories, taking hostages and singling out non-Muslims, the police said, APA reports quoting NY Times.

At least 70 people were killed in the attack and 79 more were injured, the Kenya National Disaster Operation Center said in a Twitter message.

Kenyan security forces surrounded the campus of Garissa University College and clashed with the gunmen throughout the day, eventually cornering them in one dormitory, officials said. Abdikadir Sugow, the spokesman for the Garissa county government, said the gunmen were seen wearing “combat gear,” including what appeared to be “either bulletproof vests or suicide bomb vests.”

The Shabab, an extremist group based in Somalia, issued a statement through a radio station it controls claiming responsibility for the attack. It said its fighters attacked the university early Thursday morning, began separating Muslims from non-Muslims and started an “operation against the infidels.” The group said in its statement that its fighters were still inside the university.

In 2013, the Shabab mounted an attack on a Nairobi shopping mall that turned into a four-day siege and left 67 people dead.

Kenyan authorities offered a bounty of 20 million Kenyan shillings (about $215,000) for information leading to the capture of Mohammed Mohamud, who they said was the “most wanted” suspect in connection with the university attack. They said Mr. Mohamud was also known by the names Dulyadin and Gamadhere.

The disaster operations center said that four critically wounded people had been airlifted to Nairobi, the capital, for treatment.