147 Students Massacred in Kenya , India Condemns Terrorist Attack

03 April ,Garissa

At least 147 students were massacred when Somalia’s Shebab Islamist group attacked a Kenyan universityThursday .

Hurling grenades and firing automatic rifles, the masked gunmen stormed the university in the northeastern town of Garissa as students were sleeping, shooting dead dozens before setting Muslims free and holding Christians and others hostage.

Confirming the Garissa attack, the National Disaster Operations Centre said in a statement that the siege was now over with all attackers dead. It said, the attack lasted some 16 hours from before dawn until well after dark.

At least 79 people were also wounded in the assault. In the final hour before darkness fell, Kenyan troops stormed the student dormitory where the gunmen were holed up as explosions and heavy gunfire rang out.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab claimed the attack, the same insurgents who carried out the Westgate shopping mall massacre in Nairobi in September 2013, when four gunmen slaughtered at least 67 people in a four-day bloodbath.

India has strongly condemned the barbaric terrorist attack. Terming the incident as horrific, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, it is most distressing that a university campus has been targeted.

Conveying sympathy and heart-felt condolences to the government and people of Kenya, the External Affairs Ministry in a statement said, New Delhi stands in solidarity with the bereaved families and the injured.

It said, the outrageous terrorist act is yet another reminder that the menace of terrorism continues to threaten the world and the international community needs to further strengthen its fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.