Christian students were singled out and targeted in the in the Islamist attack on a Kenyan university on Thursday in which 147 people were slaughtered.
According to Kenya's National Police Service Christians were separated from Muslims and held hostage surrounded by explosives.
Dozens more were wounded and during the 15-hour siege at the Garissa University campus, about 90 miles from the Somali border, until four militants were killed by security forces.
The Somali-based Islamist group al-Shabab, which carried out the 2013 attack on Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi which killed 67, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has targeted Christians and churches in recent years.
“It is very sad that this attack is happening during the Easter festivities,” said Bishop Joseph Alessandro, the coadjutor bishop of Garissa.
“Most of the students in the college are not from here, they are not Somali, and they are not Muslims,” he added.
Joel Ayora, who was on the university campus and was a witness to the attack, said gunmen burst into a Christian service. The terrorists took hostages from the service, then "proceeded to the hostels, shooting anybody they came across except their fellows, the Muslims."
According to the news agency Agence France-Presse, the attackers separated students by religion. They allowed Muslims to leave and kept an unknown number of Christians hostage.
Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said some students were killed during morning prayers at the mosque. Jackson Kamau, a student, said the militants killed those who were likely converts to Islam.
"We'll not allow terrorists to divide our country on religious lines," said Aden Duale, majority leader in Kenya's National Assembly.
The White House condemned the attack and said the US is assisting the Kenyan Government. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement: "We extend our deep condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed in this heinous attack, which reportedly included the targeting of Christian students."
Loading ...
