The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility for the assault which had four terrorists killed, officials stated. Gunmen burst into a Christian faith session taking hostages, the the attackers separated students by religion allowing Muslims to leave while keeping an unknown number of Christians hostage.
A total of 147 people were killed in a Al Shabaab terrorist attack at the Garissa National University on Thursday, according to the Kenya's National Disaster Operation Centre and Kenyan media.
About 79 people were injured and 587 people were evacuated, according to the same sources. The death toll is the largest from a terror attack on Kenyan soil since the U.S. Embassy was bombed in 1998, where more than 200 people died.
The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility for the assault which had four terrorists killed, officials stated. Gunmen burst into a Christian faith session taking hostages, the the attackers separated students by religion allowing Muslims to leave while keeping an unknown number of Christians hostage.
Kenyan forces cleared three of the four university dormitories of students and cornered the militants in the last one, the Interior Ministry source explained.
Following yesterday's massacre, Kenyan troops have been deployed on the streets of Garissa, patrolling the university and preventing any further attacks on soft targets such as the area hospital.
A curfew has been imposed on the town and surrounding areas from dusk till dawn in an effort to prevent the terrorists from moving freely.
Mr Abdurahman said 'One gunman ordered us to lay down on the ground, and we did that. He asked us are you Muslims and I responded: 'Yes. Please don't kill us, we are Muslims. 'He asked if we could recite the Shahada and I recited it loudly. My friends also recited the prayer loudly. He said: 'You can go now' ' Those who were unable to quote sections from the Koran were shot on the spot.’
One woman claimed she hid under the bodies of two of her friends to avoid the attentions of the gunmen.
Mohamed Kuno Dulyadeen Mohamud, also know as 'Gamadheere' is suspected of planning yesterday's massacre.
Reports say that he was a religious teacher in Garissa during the 1990s in a hard-line madrassa, delivering pro-jihadi sermons.
Al Shabaab have lost many of fighters from the Kenyan Defense Forces from fighting in Kenya and Somalia in recent years. There is a $217,000 reward for the Mohamed Kuno Dulyadeen Mohamud.