Death toll up to 147 in Kenyan university attack

UPDATE: Kenyan officials say they have killed four attackers and ended a hostage standoff at Garissa University College that began early this morning. Al Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the attack that officials now say claimed at least 147 lives. After the shooting stopped, security personnel freed dozens of hostages.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (1:38 p.m. EDT): NAIROBI, Kenya—The al-Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility for a pre-dawn attack on Garissa University College in northern Kenya that left at least 70 people dead and at least 79 others wounded.

A spokesman for the Somalia-based group told Agence France-Presse the militants were behind today’s assault and had taken non-Muslims hostage, while releasing Muslims. Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage said those seized were Christians and added that “our people are still there, they are fighting and their mission is to kill those who are against the Shabaab.”

Kenya’s Interior Ministry said the attackers had been cornered in one hostel and the military was trying to rescue the hostages being held inside the college. The ministry added one suspected terrorist had been arrested while attempting to flee the scene.

One student who escaped the attack, Collins Wetangula, told the Associated Press he locked himself and three roommates in their dormitory room, then heard the gunmen opening doors, asking if those inside were Muslims or Christians and shooting the Christians.

Garissa is about 90 miles west of the Somali border and has in the past been targeted by militants from al-Shabaab. Kenya Police Chief Joseph Boinnet said gunmen forced their way into the university by shooting two guards manning the main gate at around 5:30 a.m.: “The gunmen shot indiscriminately while inside the university compound.”

Police engaged the gunmen in a fierce shoot-out, forcing the attackers to retreat and gain entry into one of the hostels, where they are still holding students hostage, Boinnet said.

The Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government announced later in the day that two terrorists had been killed in the ongoing siege. It is still unclear how many gunmen are involved.

The Garissa campus is a constituent college of Moi University and has both classroom and residential facilities. The Ministry of Interior said 500 out of 815 students have been accounted for—leaving more than 300 students missing or dead.

A series of foreign travel warnings in response to terror threats have crippled Kenya’s economically important tourism industry, leading to loss of jobs for hundreds of workers. The attack comes only a day after President Uhuru Kenyatta accused Western nations of malice in issuing travel advisories—showing his frustration with both the attackers and caution from the West, where Kenya gets most of its tourists.

This week, British and Australian authorities issued alerts warning of potential terror attacks in parts of the country, including Garissa. There was also a specific alert for universities in the country.

Security has been heightened in the capital city, Nairobi. In the Eastleigh neighborhood, an area populated mainly by Somalis and where the police last year carried out raids to flush out suspected al-Shabaab sympathizers, security officers screened all personal vehicles entering the area. In Garissa and surrounding counties, the police chief issued a curfew order running from 6.30 p.m. to 6.30 a.m. Friday morning.

Meanwhile, Kenyan security agencies have offered a $22,000 (20 million Kenyan shillings) reward for information on an al-Shabaab terror suspect allegedly behind the Garissa University attack. The authorities have circulated a picture of Mohamed Mohamud, aka Dulyadin or Gamadheere, on suspicion he masterminded the attack. He is said to be a former teacher and principal at an Islamic school in Garissa.

Al-Shabaab has carried out a number of attacks in Kenya since 2011, when the country sent troops to Somalia to help fight the militant group there. Last month, al-Shabaab militants publicly executed two Christians who returned from Kenya to Somalia—a 41-year-old mother of two and her 35-year-old cousin.