At least 15 people have been killed, over 65 including soldiers, injured and alleged hostages held in a university complex after armed men attacked the Garissa University college campus in Garissa, northeastern Kenya.
The attackers are reported to have shot indiscriminately in student dormitories in the Thursday dawn incident. The gunfire is said to have been preceded by explosions at the university gates after which the gunmen gained entry into the university.
The Kenya Red Cross stated that "unknown number of student hostages were being held with some 50 students been safely freed."
Terrified students streamed out of buildings, some young men shirtless, as arriving police officers hunkered down, taking cover.
The gunmen are currently holed up inside the university buildings and are reported to be holding hostages.
According to some of the students who escaped, there are around five gunmen and they entered the university dormitory while students were sleeping.
No group has claimed responsibility for the raid yet.
A former Kenyan Deputy Parliamentary Speaker, described the attack on the university as scary.
"The university has no less than a 1,000 students. The damage can be colossal, but no one seems to know at this point," Maalim said.
"You cannot fight these isolated attacks with conventional military tactics, which still seems to be the only response. There is a possible intelligence lapse here, and that is no excuse [because] we have state of the art of intelligence gathering and plans can be intercepted." Maalim said there was no doubt that al-Shabab was behind the attack.
Garissa University College (GUC), the only public institution of higher learning in the region, opened its doors in 2011, according to the institution's website. The institution is situated in Garissa County in the northeastern region of Kenya, about 380km from the capital, Nairobi.
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