The dead were mostly students, but they also include one KDF soldier, a policeman and two guards.
GARISSA, Kenya, Apr 2 – At least 147 Kenyans were killed in Thursday morning’s terror attack on Garissa University College, a number Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery described as a “high human cost.”
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery announced late Thursday that security forces had ended the day-long siege at the institution, after they killed the four attackers who had taken hostages.
“This is a very sad day for Kenya….we are now planning evacuations. Tomorrow (Friday) morning the National Youth Service are sending buses to come and take students to their homes,” he said.
He said some of the injured persons would also be evacuated for specialised treatment in Nairobi.
“The Kenya Airforce aircraft will come in the morning,” he said adding that planes from Phoenix Aviation and the Kenya Police would also be used for the evacuation.
The dead were mostly students, but they also include one KDF soldier, a policeman and two guards.
“There were only four attackers and they were all killed….the attackers had strapped themselves with explosives,” he said as he explained that some security officers sustained injuries after the improvised explosive devices strapped on the terrorists went off spraying soldiers with shrapnel.
On a televised briefing from Garissa earlier, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet also declared a curfew beginning Friday and ending on April 16 from dusk to dawn not only in Garissa but also in Tana River, Wajir and Mandera. Residents will not be allowed outdoors between 6.30pm and 6.30am unless with express permission from the police.
And in compliance with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive, he said he would be announcing on Tuesday when 10,000 recruited to the police service should report for training.
The recruitment of the 10,000 had been stopped by the High Court in October 2014 following reports that the exercise was not above board.
Justice Isaac Lenaola had directed that there be a fresh recruitment exercise.
But on Thursday, in response to the Garissa attack, President Kenyatta said Kenya could not afford to wait for its security forces to be bolstered any longer.
A Sh20 million bounty has been placed on Mohamed Mohamud, alias Dulyadin alias Gamadhere by the Kenyan government as he is believed to be the mastermind of Thursday’s terror attack on university students.
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