Al-Shabaab Kenya University Attack, 147 dead, many students injured or missing

Gunmen storm Kenyan college campus in Garissa, students trapped

(Reuters) - Masked gunmen stormed a college campus in northeastern Kenya on Thursday, setting off explosions and exchanging gunfire with security forces for several hours, and could have taken hostages after killing two guards, police and media reports said.

Police who encircled the campus at the Garissa University College were joined by Kenyan soldiers as the standoff continued over several hours, Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper and Capital FM radio station reported.

A policewoman at the scene told Reuters two security guards at the campus had been killed and the gunmen were likely to have taken hostages because many students remain trapped inside the campus in the town of Garissa.

"Two guards who were manning the gate at the university have been killed," she said. "We can hear gunshots from inside the compound but at this point we can't tell who is shooting at who or what."

No group has claimed responsibility for the raid yet. Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab has carried out several attacks in Garissa and across Kenya in the past, including the 2013 attack on an upscale shopping mall in the capital Nairobi.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab has vowed to punish Kenya for sending troops into Somalia alongside African Union peacekeepers to fight the group.
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(Reporting by Joseph Akwiri and Drazen Jorgic; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Michael Perry and Paul Tait)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/02/us-kenya-security-college-idUSKBN0MT0CK20150402
 
Garissa students thought terror warning was April Fool's joke

Garissa, Kenya - Students at the Garissa University College in Kenya were warned of a possible attack but thought it was an April Fool's day joke, according to a News24 Kenya correspondent on the scene.

Militants stormed the university early on Thursday morning. At least 15 people have been confirmed dead so far, and dozens of people injured, according to latest reports.

Students at the institution told News24 there had been warning messages and notices placed in the school compound that warned of planned terror attacks, urging vigilance.

However, most of the students thought the notices were an April Fool's day prank.

'We were warned'

"There were notices and we were warned, but it was April 1, who would think it was serious," said Ali Noor, a third year business student, who was lucky enough to miss the attack because he slept at a friend's home outside the campus.

"It is the holidays so we were all in a good mood. It is so sad that it was actually true," a shocked Noor said.

Noor has friends who he thinks are stuck in the university hostel but he cannot reach them as their phones are off.

"I have friends there. I hope they are okay," a shaken Noor added.

A prior notice had also been placed at different universities in the country, warning of impending attacks on an unnamed institution.

The Al Shabaab militia group has already taken responsibility for the attack.

News24
Victor Tinto in Garissa
Source: http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/G...-terror-warning-was-April-Fools-joke-20150402
 
Kenyan students' bodies riddled with bullet wounds

Garissa - The bodies of people killed in the attack on the Garissa University College in Kenya are riddled with bullets, with some shot up to ten times.

A security expert on the scene in Garissa told News24 the bullet wounds on the bodies arriving at Garissa Hospital on Thursday morning indicated the level of aggression displayed by the Al Shabaab attackers.

So far at least 15 people have been confirmed dead in the attack, including four security personnel, according to hospital authorities.

Indiscriminate shooting

“Up to ten bullet wounds means that the attackers were indiscriminate. They simply shot at a moving target until it fell down,” security expert Nelson Simiyu told News24 Kenya’s Victor Tinto.

"It seems that they were also heavily armed and had artillery to last them a long time," he added.

The attack took place just before dawn as the militants targeted the university hostels, which house as many as 1 000 students.

It has not yet been confirmed how many students are among the dead, but a policeman who did not want to be named as he is not allowed to speak on behalf of the force said that of the 15 dead, 11 are students.

"They are just students. Boys and girls. It is a sad sight," he told News24.

It is also expected that the number of dead will rise much higher.

"The death toll will rise. There are several sections of the hostels yet to be accessed,” he added.

Airlifted

Meanwhile, four critically injured people have been airlifted to Nairobi for specialised treatment. The injured, who had suffered gunshot injuries, were airlifted at 10:30 local time (09:30 SA time) to Nairobi.

Kenya Red Cross officials confirmed that the four needed urgent treatment and blood transfusions, and a decision was made to transport them to Nairobi.

The Red Cross also confirmed that there were likely more injured students who would need to be airlifted and that more helicopters were on the way to help the injured.

News24
Victor Tinto in Garissa
Source: http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Kenyan-students-bodies-riddled-with-bullet-wounds-20150402
 
Al-Shabaab University attack in Kenya; 15 dead, hostages taken

A swarm of gunmen stormed a Kenya university before dawn Thursday, firing indiscriminately and taking hostages.

At least 15 people have been killed, security and interior ministry officials said, according to CNN affiliate Citizen TV. The officials said 550 people are unaccounted for at the campus that had about 815 students.

At least 65 people were hospitalized from the attack at Garissa University College, the Kenyan Red Cross said.

The Somali-based Al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility. The security and ministry officials said one terrorist was arrested as he tried to slip through the security cordon and flee the scene.

By 1 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET), eight hours after the attack began, the fight to regain control of the university continued. Kenyan forces cleared three of four dormitories and had cornered the militants in the last one, the interior ministry said.

Garissa is about 145 kilometers (90 miles) from the border with Somalia. Al-Shabaab militants have often launched attacks inside Kenya ever since the Kenyan government sent troops across the border to fight the group .

The gunshots started going off "like fireworks" around 5 a.m., at the time of morning prayers, witness Milka Ndung'u told CNN affiliate NTV. She and others escaped to a field, but gunshots followed them.

Augustine Alanga told CNN he woke up to the sound of gunfire and described students running around, seeking safety.

Assailants forced their way onto the campus by shooting at guards at the front gates, Kenya National Police said.

From there, attackers moved into a nearby girls' hostel, the Red Cross said.

It's not clear how many gunmen were on campus.

"We don't know how many there were, but there are probably more than 10," said Robert Alai Onyango, a blogger in Nairobi. "We believe the attackers were wearing something close to military fatigues."

Onyango said the attackers appeared to be shooting indiscriminately and "basically from all angles."

"They surrounded the mosque ... we don't know why they were surrounding the mosque," Onyango said.

About 300 students who escaped university sought refuge at a Kenya Defense Forces camp, local newspaper journalist Steven Astariko said.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/02/africa/kenya-university-attack/
 
Early wake up call saved me, says Garissa student

Garissa- Ali Swabri Hussein woke up earlier than usual today to head to his usual morning prayers at a nearby Garissa mosque, not knowing that the early call would save him from a terrorist attack at the Garissa University College in Kenya.

Hussein, like most Muslims, usually wakes up early to head out to morning prayers but on Thursday he woke up slightly earlier than usual and made his way to the mosque.

"I'm usually up at 05:20 and leave for the mosque at 05:40 but today I was up at four because I was feeling unusually hot," he told News24 Kenya on the scene of the attack.

"After I had tried and failed to fall asleep again, I woke up at 04:30 and prepared to leave. I left the hostel at just after five and headed to the mosque," he added.

"It is now that I realise that if I had stuck to my usual routine, maybe things would have been very different," he said.

Hussein says his hostel mates have been freed by security forces but fears that maybe one or two people he knows might fall victim to the attack.

"I'm praying for all those inside to be safe and hope that the police can save them," he adds.

According to reports, the attackers are separating the Muslim students from ones of other religions with the aim of killing them.

So far it has been confirmed that 15 people have been killed in the attack and 56 injured including four security officers.

Victor Tinto in Garissa, News24
Source: http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Early-wake-up-call-saved-me-says-Garissa-student-20150402
 
i would love to see these hostage situations handled a little differently.

identify the attackers / hostage takers and return the favour by capturing their very own families then start the clock by delivering a part of a family member of each hostage taker to them every 30 minutes.

some will of course start screaming about the innocent family members bla bla bla.
however, they are complicit by harboring the scum, the families, the community, the mosque etc, all are complicit and should be made pay the price - unless of course all these attackers happen to be single men that live on their own, which is unlikely in the extreme.

a very hardline approach need to be taken
 
Another Christian holiday, another Muslim terrorist headline...
 
grantza said:
i would love to see these hostage situations handled a little differently.

identify the attackers / hostage takers and return the favour by capturing their very own families then start the clock by delivering a part of a family member of each hostage taker to them every 30 minutes.

some will of course start screaming about the innocent family members bla bla bla.
however, they are complicit by harboring the scum, the families, the community, the mosque etc, all are complicit and should be made pay the price - unless of course all these attackers happen to be single men that live on their own, which is unlikely in the extreme.

a very hardline approach need to be taken
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Was that not the approach the russians took?
 
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