Kenyans Hold Rally to Mourn Garissa University Victims

Kenyans mourning the deaths from last week's massacre at Garissa University College gathered for a vigil Tuesday, the final day of an official three-day mourning period. The demonstrators gathered at a public park in Nairobi to share stories of the 148 students killed and call for greater national security. Organizers asked mourners to dress in black and to bring flowers and handwritten messages honoring the dead. Militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for last Thursday's attack, saying it was retaliation for Kenya's role in the African Union force fighting the militants in Somalia. On Sunday, Kenya carried out airstrikes in Somalia, targeting two al-Shabab camps in the Gedo region along the Kenyan-Somali border. Kenya Defense Forces spokesman David Obonyo said Monday the two camps were destroyed, though he did not give a death toll. A local resident told VOA Somali that animals were killed and houses destroyed but there were "no human casualties." Dozens of survivors from the Garissa attack are still recovering from gunshot wounds. The 15-hour assault ended when Kenyan security forces shot the four attackers. Kenya's Interior Ministry said one of the attackers, identified as Abdirahim Abdullahi, was the son of a Kenyan government official. Al-Shabab has carried out multiple attacks in Kenya in recent years, and warned that more would come unless Kenya withdraws its troops from Somalia. Somalia president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told VOA Somali Service on Sunday that Somalia-based al-Shabab is a regional enemy that needs to be confronted. U.S. President Barack Obama, whose father was from Kenya, expressed "horror and sadness" over the attack. The White House said Obama has reiterated his plan to visit Nairobi in July.



from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1CtXEce