At least 147 people have been killed in a deadly attack on a University college in a Kenyan North-eastern town, launched by the terrorist group al-Shabaab.
On the early morning hours of Thursday, gunmen from the militant group attacked the Garissa University College while students were sleeping in their dormitories.
According to officials, the gunmen took several hundreds of students and other civilians as hostages. Kenyan troops who arrived at the scene few moments later engaged a fierce battle with the militants in the campus.
Officials have said that the death toll of the attack has risen to 147, leaving 80 other injured. Kenyan security forces managed to rescue 500 hostages and killed all the four militants who carried out the attack, Interior ministry officials stated.
The number of people killed in this attack will be the highest in Kenyan history killed in a single attack on a day.
Al Shabaab officials who had earlier claimed the responsibility of the attack said that they had released Muslim hostages.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta condemned the attack, saying that it is ‘’a moment for everyone throughout the country to be vigilant as we continue to confront and defeat our enemies.
The Kenyan military crossed into Somalia in 2011 to battle Al-Shabaab, which it blamed for kidnapping tourists in the coastal region. In retaliation, the terrorist group has launched a spate of attacks in the East Africa nation.
Last year, al-Shabaab carried two deadly attacks in the North-eastern Kenyan province killing at least 64 people. Kenyans have accused the government of Uhuru Kenyatta failing to protect the country against the extremist attacks.
Horseed Media
Somalia: Al Shabaab attack on Kenyan University death toll rises to 147
Published: April 2, 2015
