Kenya terrorist attack leaves countless dead
“Words cannot adequately condemn the terrorist atrocities that took place at Garissa University College, where innocent men and women were brazenly and brutally massacred. We join the world in mourning them, many of whom were students pursuing an education in the pursuit of a better life for themselves and their loved ones,” President Barack Obama said in a public statement on ‘WhiteHouse.gov’. “We will stand hand-in-hand with the Kenyan Government and people against the scourge of terrorism and in their efforts to bring communities together.”
Gunmen stormed the Garissa University College in Kenya on Apr 2, killing over 148 students in the deadliest terrorist attack in the country since 1998.
“Kenya grieves for 148 lives gone too soon,” ‘Al Jazeera’ correspondent Mohammed Adow said in ‘Al Jazeera English’. “My country is in shock at the cold-blooded murder of young students in their hostels and lecture halls at Garissa University College.”
The militants were members of al-Shabaab, an offshoot of al-Qaeda. The group claimed “unspeakable atrocities against the Muslims of East Africa” as their reasoning for the attack.
Attackers were able to enter the campus undetected due to security lapses even though there had been prior warnings of an attack. At first, they fired at random, but later let Muslim students go free and targeted Christian ones.
“It’s because of laxity by the government that these things are happening. For something like this to happen when there are those rumors is unacceptable,” Somali Kenyan businessman Mohamed Salat said to ‘Al Jazeera America’.
In response, a protest was held in Garissa that amassed around 2,500 people followed by a candle-lit vigil. Protesters marched in defiance of al-Shabaab’s violence while also criticizing the slow response of security forces.
“I am so worried, I had a son who was among the students trapped inside the college, and since yesterday I have heard nothing,” Kenyan Habel Mutinda said to ‘Al Jazeera America’.
