Two killed in gunmen attack on Kenyan university

Masked gunmen have attacked a university campus in Kenya’s eastern Garissa Town, killing at least two people and injuring four others, police officials say.

The gunmen stormed early on Thursday the campus located some 150 kilometers (90 miles) from the border of Somalia.

“There is an attack at the university and more police officers have been sent there, and the military,” said police spokesman Gatiria Mboroki.

Heavy police presence has been reported around the institute with several ambulances on standby.

Unconfirmed reports also say hostages have been taken by the gunmen.

Local daily, the Standard newspaper said the attack began at a mosque inside the university, where armed men entered and opened fire on people indiscriminately.

Kenya’s northern and eastern regions, which border Somalia, have been the scene of violent attacks blamed on al-Shabab militants from Somalia. The militants have vowed retribution against Kenya for deploying its troops to Somalia.

Kenya currently has over 3,000 soldiers stationed in southern Somalia, where they have been battling al-Shabab. The country sent troops into Somalia in late 2011, after the militant group carried out a series of raids inside Kenya.

The al-Shabab militants have been pushed out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and other major cities in the country by the African Union Mission in Somalia, which is largely made up of troops from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti and Sierra Leone.