Nairobi, April 3
The toll in the terrorist
attack on Kenya's Garissa University College on Thursday has risen to
147, according to media reports.
The Daily Nation reported that bodies of the guards of the university were strewn near the university's main gate.
A
police official said that there was a shootout between the attackers
and police officers who were guarding the students' hostels.
"The attackers shot indiscriminately while inside the university compound.
“However,
the attackers retreated and gained entry into the hostels... (A) joint
force composed of National Police Service Commission (NPS) officers and
other security agencies arrived and are engaged in an elaborative
process of flushing out the gunmen from the hostels,†he said in a
statement posted on his Twitter account.
Kenya Defence Force (KDF) and police have entered the university's compound.
Following the attack, the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility.
Terrified students rescued from the college were gathered at a KDF camp near the Garissa airstrip.
Students who were seriously injured were flown to Nairobi for treatment.
In a tweet, Kenya's interior ministry said one of the attackers had been arrested as he tried to flee from the scene.
N
airobi, April 2
At least 15 people were
killed and over 60 injured by armed assailants who forced their way into
a university in northeastern Kenya and opened fire at students early
Thursday even as authorities said 280 students were rescued while 535
still remained unaccounted for.
Kenya Red Cross officials said at
least 65 people, including two policemen, were injured during the
attack at the Garissa University College, Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation
reported.
The two policemen and a civilian have been airlifted to Nairobi for treatment.
One suspect in the attack has been nabbed, authorities said.
Somalia-based Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack, Xinhua news agency reported.
"We have killed many people and Kenyans will be shocked when they get inside," they said in their radio station.
Interior
Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery told journalists in Garissa that the
suspect was arrested while trying to flee the scene, and is being
interrogated in connection with the attack at Moi University campus in
Garissa.
Nkaiserry also confirmed that 15 people were killed, 65
hospitalized, 280 rescued while 535 remained unaccounted for, adding
that efforts were underway to track the missing.
"The institution
has 815 students and 60 members of staff. The security agents have
managed to account for 280 students and all the members of staff," he
told journalists in Garissa.
The attack started at dawn from the mosque inside the campus where the attackers shot at worshippers indiscriminately.
Students
who escaped the gunfire said there were at least five attackers. Many
other students and teachers were still being held hostage.
There
were fears of mass casualties as the gunmen remained holed up in the
compound, Kenya's National Disaster Operations Centre said in an earlier
report.
Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet said there
was a shootout between attackers and police officers who were guarding
the students' hostels.
"The attackers shot indiscriminately while inside the university compound."
"However,
the attackers retreated and gained entry into the hostel... a joint
force composed of National Police Service Commission (NPS) officers and
other security agencies arrived and are engaged in an elaborative
process of flushing out the gunmen from the hostels," he said in a
statement posted on his Twitter account.
Kenya Defence Force (KDF) and police entered the university's compound.
Local security officials said there had been threats on the institutions there from terror groups.
"We had the threats earlier and had alerted the institutions here," a security official said.
