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Student Describes Attack at Kenya School
Student Describes Attack at Kenya School
A student who escaped an attack by gunmen on a Kenyan university described the scene on Thursday.
By Citizen TV on Publish Date April 2, 2015. Photo by -/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.
NAIROBI, Kenya — 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.
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.â€
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.
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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.
President Uhuru Kenyatta issued a statement extending condolences to the families of victims and saying that he and his government “continue to pray for the quick recovery of the injured, and the safe rescue of those held hostage.â€
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A soldier took cover during an attack by gunmen at the university campus in Garissa, Kenya on Thursday. Credit Noor Khamis/Reuters
Mr. Sugow, the county spokesman, said the college “hosts students from all over Kenya, of different religious and ethnic backgrounds,†which may help explain why it was made a target.
Augustine Alanga, 21, an economics student at the college, said he had been asleep in his dormitory when the shooting began. Startled and afraid, he said, he bolted from his room without stopping to put on his shoes, and got cuts on his feet as he sprinted barefoot across the campus and into a nearby forest.
“When I looked back, I saw them,†Mr. Alanga recalled. “There were five or six of them. They were masked. And they were shooting live rounds.â€
The attack began about 5:30 a.m., when the gunmen forced their way onto the campus by firing at guards at the main gate, according to a statement issued by the office of the inspector general of the National Police Service in Nairobi.
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Students took shelter in a vehicle after gunmen attacked the Garissa University College. Credit Associated Press
“Police officers who were at the time guarding the students’ hostels heard the gunshots and responded swiftly, and engaged the gunmen in a fierce shootout; however, the attackers retreated and gained entry into the hostels,†the statement said. “Security agencies arrived and are currently engaged in an elaborate process of flushing out the gunmen.â€
The police surrounded and sealed off the campus, and by 11 a.m., three of the college’s four student dormitories had been evacuated, while “the attackers have been cornered in one hostel,†the Interior Ministry said on Twitter.
“It is ongoing,†Abbas Gullet, secretary general of the Kenyan Red Cross, said by telephone. “There are students that are being held against their will by these terrorists in the dormitories.â€
Recent security warnings have emphasized a risk of attack by the Shabab, which the Kenyan government has been battling for years, including a military incursion into Somalia that began in 2011. Garissa is about 90 miles from the Somali border.
In March, the embassies of Australia, the United States and Britain issued security alerts about possible terrorist attacks.
“Potential targets for attacks could include hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, shopping malls, diplomatic missions, transportation hubs, religious institutions, government offices, or public transportation,†the United States Embassy warned after the reported death of Adan Garar, a Shabab leader, in March.
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