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| Al-Shabaab seize hostages in standoff at Kenya college - live updates | Al-Shabaab seize hostages in standoff at Kenya college - live updates |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 3.30pm BST15:30 | |
| The Kenyan army has deployed tanks following the attack. | |
| Updated at 3.36pm BST | |
| 3.23pm BST15:23 | |
| The Kenyan government has put a price on the head of the “mastermind” behind the Garissa attack. | |
| The Kenyan government has named Mohamed Kuno as the mastermind of the #GarissaAttack and placed a $53,000 bounty on him. | |
| 3.21pm BST15:21 | |
| Garissa is in northeast Kenya, one of the country’s poorest regions. It is known for its pastoralists or nomadic herders. Here is an extract from an East Africa Community website. | |
| In the northeastern province, where poverty rates are some of the highest in Kenya, the main economic activity is livestock production while minimal land is under cultivation since pastoralism requires large area of land to graze animals. Given the climatic conditions, the region is more favoured for livestock production than crop production. Only a few farmers grow cereals, legumes, horticulture and oil crops in the few areas having good soils with ample rainfall or on the minimal portion (8%) of irrigable land actually irrigated. | |
| 3.10pm BST15:10 | |
| My colleague in Nairobi Murithi Mutiga has this quote from an eyewitness, student John Ongamo. | |
| “When I heard the gunfire, I slipped out of bed and hid in the wardrobe. The attackers stormed into the hostel and said they wanted to know where the kafirs (unbelievers) were. The girls in the neighbouring hostel started screaming and running and in the confusion I managed to flee. It was terrible. I have never been that scared in my life. They were just spraying bullets around.” | |
| 3.04pm BST15:04 | 3.04pm BST15:04 |
| Survivors have been describing horrific scenes to the Associated Press. | Survivors have been describing horrific scenes to the Associated Press. |
| Collins Wetangula, the vice chairman of the student union, said he was preparing to take a shower when he heard gunshots coming from Tana dorm, which hosts both men and women, 150m away. The campus has six dorms and at least 887 students, he said. | Collins Wetangula, the vice chairman of the student union, said he was preparing to take a shower when he heard gunshots coming from Tana dorm, which hosts both men and women, 150m away. The campus has six dorms and at least 887 students, he said. |
| He said that when he heard the gunshots he locked himself and three roommates in their room. | He said that when he heard the gunshots he locked himself and three roommates in their room. |
| “All I could hear were footsteps and gunshots nobody was screaming because they thought this would lead the gunmen to know where they are,” he said. “The gunmen were saying sisi ni al-Shabaab (Swaihi for we are al-Shabaab),” Wetangula said. | “All I could hear were footsteps and gunshots nobody was screaming because they thought this would lead the gunmen to know where they are,” he said. “The gunmen were saying sisi ni al-Shabaab (Swaihi for we are al-Shabaab),” Wetangula said. |
| When the gunmen arrived at his dormitory he could hear them opening doors and asking if the people who had hidden inside whether they were Muslims or Christians. | When the gunmen arrived at his dormitory he could hear them opening doors and asking if the people who had hidden inside whether they were Muslims or Christians. |
| “If you were a Christian you were shot on the spot,” he said. “With each blast of the gun I thought I was going to die.” | “If you were a Christian you were shot on the spot,” he said. “With each blast of the gun I thought I was going to die.” |
| The gunmen started to shoot rapidly and it was as if there was an exchange of fire, he said. | The gunmen started to shoot rapidly and it was as if there was an exchange of fire, he said. |
| “The next thing, we saw people in military uniform through the window of the back of our rooms who identified themselves as the Kenyan military,” Wetangula said. The soldiers took him and around 20 others to safety. | “The next thing, we saw people in military uniform through the window of the back of our rooms who identified themselves as the Kenyan military,” Wetangula said. The soldiers took him and around 20 others to safety. |
| Augustine Alanga, a 21-year-old student, described a panicked scene as gunshots rang out outside their dormitory in the pre-dawn hours when most people were asleep. | Augustine Alanga, a 21-year-old student, described a panicked scene as gunshots rang out outside their dormitory in the pre-dawn hours when most people were asleep. |
| “I am just now recovering from the pain as I injured myself while trying to escape. I was running barefoot,” said Alanga, who was one of scores of students who managed to escape through barbed wire fencing. | “I am just now recovering from the pain as I injured myself while trying to escape. I was running barefoot,” said Alanga, who was one of scores of students who managed to escape through barbed wire fencing. |
| 2.54pm BST14:54 | 2.54pm BST14:54 |
| President Uhuru Kenyatta has issued a statement on the standoff at Garissa university college, extending his condolences to the families of those who have died in the attack. He went on: | President Uhuru Kenyatta has issued a statement on the standoff at Garissa university college, extending his condolences to the families of those who have died in the attack. He went on: |
| I also assure the nation that my government has undertaken appropriate deployment to the affected area, and is fully seized of the situation. I also urge Kenyans to stay calm as we resolve this matter, and to provide the authorities with any information they may have in connection with any threats to our security. | I also assure the nation that my government has undertaken appropriate deployment to the affected area, and is fully seized of the situation. I also urge Kenyans to stay calm as we resolve this matter, and to provide the authorities with any information they may have in connection with any threats to our security. |
| This is a moment for everyone throughout the country to be vigilant as we continue to confront and defeat our enemies. I further direct the inspector general of police to take urgent steps and ensure that the 10,000 recruits whose enrolment is pending, promptly report for training at the Kenya police college, Kiganjo. I take full responsibility for this directive. We have suffered unnecessarily due to shortage of security personnel. Kenya badly needs additional officers, and I will not keep the nation waiting. | This is a moment for everyone throughout the country to be vigilant as we continue to confront and defeat our enemies. I further direct the inspector general of police to take urgent steps and ensure that the 10,000 recruits whose enrolment is pending, promptly report for training at the Kenya police college, Kiganjo. I take full responsibility for this directive. We have suffered unnecessarily due to shortage of security personnel. Kenya badly needs additional officers, and I will not keep the nation waiting. |
| 2.43pm BST14:43 | 2.43pm BST14:43 |
| Summary | |
| Masked gunmen from Somalia’s al-Shabaab movement claim to be holding an unknown number of Kenyan Christians hostage after a dawn raid on a university compound that left at least 15 people dead. | Masked gunmen from Somalia’s al-Shabaab movement claim to be holding an unknown number of Kenyan Christians hostage after a dawn raid on a university compound that left at least 15 people dead. |
| The attackers stormed into the university shortly after 5am in the town of Garissa, about 90 miles from the volatile border with Somalia. Kenya’s national disaster operations centre said 280 of the university’s 815 students were accounted for but did not say how many it believed to be still inside. | The attackers stormed into the university shortly after 5am in the town of Garissa, about 90 miles from the volatile border with Somalia. Kenya’s national disaster operations centre said 280 of the university’s 815 students were accounted for but did not say how many it believed to be still inside. |
| The gunmen were in one of four residential buildings, the interior ministry said. Survivors told the Associated Press of harrowing scenes with people gunned down while others ran for their lives. | The gunmen were in one of four residential buildings, the interior ministry said. Survivors told the Associated Press of harrowing scenes with people gunned down while others ran for their lives. |
| Updated at 3.38pm BST |