Thursday, April 02, 2015
Witnesses say the gunmen who stormed a college in Kenya this morning identified themselves as members of al-Shabab, the Islamic extremist group from neighboring Somalia.
One student says the attackers went room to room in his dormitory demanding to know whether those inside were Muslims or Christians, and shot the Christians "on the spot."Officials say security forces have cornered the gunmen in a dorm building at Garissa University College, but the attackers are believed to be holding hostages. One student says most of the people still inside are girls.
Another student describes bullets "whizzing past" his head as he and others escaped outside. He says soldiers told them that al-Shabab snipers were firing at them from the dorm building.
A mortuary attendant in the town of Garissa says at least 15 people have been killed in the attack and 60 injured.
Al-Shabab carried out the deadly 2013 attack on a Nairobi mall and also claimed responsibility for a siege on a hotel in the Somali capital last week, which left at least 24 people dead.