Masked Gunmen Attack University in Eastern Kenya

A police official says attackers have stormed a university in Garissa, exchanging gunfire with security services for several hours

Thursday 2 April 2015
Guardian

Masked gunmen stormed a university campus in eastern Kenya on Thursday, setting off explosions and exchanging gunfire with security forces for several hours.

It is believed the attackers could have taken hostages after killing two guards, police and media reports said.

Police who encircled the campus at the university in Garissa 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.

“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.”

The BBC’s Bashkas Jugsoda’ay was on the scene and said that the gunmen stormed the campus at 4am local time. Fighting had continued since then.

Some students had managed to escape from the university, which he estimated has 500 students.

Kenya’s northern and eastern regions, which border Somalia, have been most affected by attacks blamed on al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab Islamists from Somalia. They have vowed retribution against Kenya for sending its troops to Somalia.