Somalia-Based Jihadis Attack University in Kenya - Kill At Least 147 (Videos)

Second massacre after a mall attack in Kenya left 67 dead in 2013. Jihadis claim attack was in revenge for Kenya's attacks on Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabab members in Somalia

Screen capture from NYT video.

By Ismai'il Kushkush and Rukmini Callimachi
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 authorities said.

Kenya’s interior minister, Joseph Nkaissery, said that 147 people had been killed, including four attackers — making it the deadliest terrorist attack in the country since the 1998 bombing of the American Embassy in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

The minister contended on Thursday night that the harrowing siege at the university had ended, and that security forces were carefully sweeping the campus for any remaining threats.

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 and affiliated with Al Qaeda, 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.”

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