http://allafrica.com/stories/201504040602.html
The Somali Islamist group al-Shabab says it will stage more attacks on Kenya. The threat comes as Kenyan media says the death toll from this week's assault on a university is likely to rise.
In an e-mailed statement released on Saturday, the Somali militant group threatened to wage a "long and gruesome war" on Kenya in revenge for the alleged oppression of Muslims by the Kenyan government.
"No amount of precaution or safety measures will be able to guarantee your safety, thwart another attack or prevent another bloodbath from occurring in your cities," the statement said, adding that Kenya's cities would run "red with blood."
The group has often said that its attacks in Kenya are in retribution for Nairobi's deployment of troops in neighboring Somalia to help fight against the militants.
The renewed threat comes two days after four masked al-Shabab gunmen raided a university in the northeastern town of Garissa, killing scores of students in what was the bloodiest ever attack by the militant group.
Toll 'likely to rise'
Kenya's largest-circulation newspaper, the Daily Nation, said the death toll from Thursday's attack was likely to rise well above the current official figure of 148, a view confirmed to the Reuters news agency by a government source.
Many students remain missing, with their whereabouts unknown, following the attack, in which the militants targeted mostly non-Muslims, according to witnesses.
Dozens were also wounded, several of them critically.
More than 400 people have been killed in Kenya in attacks by al-Shabab since President Uhuru Kenyatta took office in April 2013, including some 67 people killed in a four-day siege at the Westgate shopping mall in the capital, Nairobi, in September of that year.
The recent series of gun and grenade attacks, which have damaged Kenya's image abroad and its tourism industry, have led to increased pressure on Kenyatta to improve his country's security situation, with analysts saying that rampant corruption is to blame for many failings in this area.
Public anger over the Garissa massacre has been compounded by the fact that there had been warnings last week of an imminent attack on a university.
Al-Shabab is increasingly adopting a strategy of attacking "soft" targets after being weakened by a series of territorial losses in Somalia in recent years and suffering the loss of several commanders in US drone strikes.
The group at one point controlled most of Somalia.
tj/lw (AFP, Reuters)
4 APRIL 2015
Apr.4 2015
Kenyatta vows harsh action against Shabab
The Hindu - 37 minutes ago
Kenya's President has vowed to take harsh measures against Islamic militants after they attacked a school near the Somali border, killing 148 people. President Uhuru Kenyatta warned on Saturday in a nationally televised address that the planners and ...
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/kenya-garissa-university-attack-dulyadin-gamadhere/article7068330.ece
Five arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Garissa attack; search on for the mastermind
Kenya’s President has vowed to take harsh measures against Islamic militants after they attacked a school near the Somali border, killing 148 people.
President Uhuru Kenyatta warned on Saturday in a nationally televised address that the planners and financiers of attacks like the one in Garissa town are “deeply embedded in our communities.”
Mr. Kenyatta said his administration “shall respond in the severest ways possible” to the Garissa attack, which occurred on Thursday when four gunmen entered a campus and slaughtered students. The military moved in hours later and the gunmen were killed.
“We will fight terrorism to the end,” said Mr. Kenyatta. “I want you to know that our security forces are pursuing the remaining accomplices. We will bring all of them to justice ... We are also in active pursuit of the mastermind [of the Garissa attack] and have placed a reward for his capture,” he said. He also declared three days of national mourning over the Garissa attack.
Mr. Kenyatta’s nationwide address came after Somalia’s Islamic extremist group al-Shabab warned of more attacks in Kenya like the assault on Garissa University College. Five people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Garissa attack, a Kenyan official said.
Kenyan security agencies arrested three people trying to cross into Somalia, said Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka in a Twitter post.
He said the three are associates of Mohamed Mohamud, also known as Dulyadin Gamadhere, a former teacher at a Kenyan Madrassa Islamic school who authorities say coordinated the Garissa attack. Kenyan authorities have put a $220,000 bounty for information leading to Gamadhere’s arrest.
Two other suspects were arrested at Garissa college.
A survivor of the killings at Garissa University College was found on Saturday, two days after the attack by Islamic extremists killed 148 people.
Keywords: Kenya, Garissa University attack
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