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02.04.2015 Nigeria

Gunmen kill two in dawn attack on Kenya university

By AFP
Map of Kenya locating Garissa, where gunmen stormed a university Thursday.  By  AFPMap of Kenya locating Garissa, where gunmen stormed a university Thursday. By (AFP)
02.04.2015 LISTEN

Garissa (Kenya) (AFP) - Masked gunmen stormed a university in northeast Kenya at dawn Thursday, killing at least two people at the campus not far from war-torn Somalia's lawless border.

"Gunmen forced their way into Garissa University by shooting at the guards manning the main gate at around 5:30 am," said Kenya Police Chief Joseph Boinet.

"The gunmen shot indiscriminately while inside the university compound," he said.

Fighting continued with the gunmen reported to have holed up inside a building in the campus, where there are both teaching areas as well as residential blocks.

The university has several hundred students from different parts of Kenya. The number of teachers and students trapped inside the campus was unclear as gunfire and explosions were heard coming from the site.

"Police... engaged the gunmen in a fierce shootout, however the attackers retreated and gained entry into one of the hostels," Boinet said, adding that reinforcements had arrived and were "flushing out the gunmen".

At least two people have been killed and four injured in the attack, according to Kenya's official National Disaster Operations Centre.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the town lies roughly 150 kilometres (90 miles) west of Somalia and has in the past been targeted by militants from the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab.

- Attack ongoing -

A witness, Ahmed Nur, said he saw the bodies of two university guards, shot by the attackers. Kenya's Red Cross is evacuating the wounded.

Kenya Red Cross, quoting local health officials, said that 30 people had been taken to hospital, "the majority" with gunshot wounds. At least four were reported to be in a serious condition.

Kenya has been hit by a wave of grenade and gun attacks, often blamed on sympathisers of Somalia's Shebab Islamist fighters and sometimes aimed at police targets, since the army crossed into southern Somalia in 2011 to attack Islamist bases.

A series of foreign travel warnings in response to the terror threat have crippled Kenya's economically important tourism industry. On Wednesday, just hours before the attack in Garissa began, President Uhuru Kenyatta said Kenya "is safe as any country in the world".

Kenya's government has been under fire since the September 2013 Shebab attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, in which at least 67 people were killed in a siege involving just four gunmen and which lasted four days.

In June and July last year Shebab gunmen killed close to 100 people in a series of attacks on the town of Mpeketoni and nearby villages.

In November Shebab claimed responsibility for holding up a bus outside Mandera town, separating passengers according to religion and executing 28 non-Muslims. Ten days later 36 non-Muslim quarry workers were also massacred in the area.

Students in Garissa on Thursday reported seeing up to four masked gunmen entering the university compound before dawn.

The area surrounding ​​the university has been sealed off by the Kenya security forces and the army has been called in.

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