Garissa University; 8 Years After Terrorist Attack
Security agencies have reported that they have thwarted several plans by terrorist groups to carry out an attack similar to the one that occurred at Garissa University on April 2, 2015.
This has resulted in the arrest, killing, or escape of many of the planners. The agencies have stated that the terror threat remains high but under control, thanks to the cooperation between different security agencies.
April 2, 2023, marks the eighth anniversary of the Garissa University attack, during which four terrorists stormed the university, randomly shooting and killing 148 people.
The Somali-based militia group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it was motivated by Kenya’s military presence in Somalia.
One of the senior members of al-Shabaab militants responsible for the Garissa University massacre, Mohamed Mohamud, was on Kenya’s wanted list after the attack.
In July 2015, he was among four senior members of al-Shabaab militants who were killed in a US drone strike. Since then, the Kenyan government has stepped up its efforts to fight terrorism, neutralizing terror plans and disrupting many terror plots at their source.
The government has also destroyed a large cache of weapons and explosives that could have caused great harm to the people of Kenya if they had not been intercepted.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has stated that the current crackdown on al-Shabaab terror cells in Somalia, which is being spearheaded by local community leaders with the support of the Federal Government of Somalia, has significantly weakened the militant group.
Security agencies are on high alert to ensure that militants do not cross into Kenya’s territory. The government has stepped up its border patrols and surveillance on the proliferation of illicit arms, narcotic drugs, and psychotropic substances.
The government has also improved its intelligence gathering to stay ahead of the enemy. According to Kindiki, hardworking officers in the elite, specially trained formed units remain engaged in keeping terror at bay.
However, there have been recent developments where the prison sentences of two defendants convicted in the terror attacks were lowered by a court.
Garissa University; 8 Years After Terrorist Attack
High Court Justice Cecilia Githua acquitted Hassan Edin Hassan and Mohamed Abdi Abikar of the crime of being members of the al-Shaabab militant group but upheld the convictions of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.
The action lowers their prison sentences from 41 years to 25-and-a-half years. In 2019, a magistrate court sentenced the duo to 25-and-a-half years for conspiracy to commission and commit a terrorist act and 15-and-a-half years for being members of al-Shabaab.
However, the judge overturned the sentence of being members of al-Shabaab, stating that the prosecution did not present evidence to prove that the two terror convicts were members of the militia group.
While the ruling has disregarded the families of the 148 victims who were killed in the 2015 attacks at the University, the judge upheld the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution, saying it left no doubt that the two were aware of the attack plan and they were the actual perpetrators of the attack.
During the attack, the terrorists singled out and shot those identified as Christians as they roamed from building to building. Security forces eventually surrounded and killed the attackers.
In 2015, the university had a total of 750 students and the number of students has doubled to 1,500.
The students of the university were attacked while preparing for morning prayers, which began at 5 am local time. The attack started with gunmen killing two security guards at the gate before entering the campus and shooting at the students.
The attackers moved through administrative buildings and classrooms before reaching the dormitories where almost 900 students were residing. Security agencies were able to seal off the campus and evacuate the students.
The troops were able to clear three of the four dormitories, with more than 580 people escaping. At least 79 people were injured, and after almost 16 hours, the four attackers were surrounded and killed.
Al-Shabaab, an organization affiliated with al-Qaeda, has been behind numerous attacks in Kenya, including the assault on Nairobi’s Westgate mall in 2013, which left 67 people dead and 200 injured.
They were also responsible for the siege on a Nairobi hotel complex in January 2019, which killed 21 people. After the attack, the United Nations Security Council faulted the Kenyan government for failing to act on credible security intelligence about an imminent attack on the college.
The United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea reported that multiple intelligence sources had informed them that the gunmen were known to be in Garissa 10 to 14 days before the attack.
The officials at the college were aware that campus security arrangements were inadequate and had consulted and even written several times to the local government security apparatus but were not taken seriously by anyone.
The university, which is 150 kilometers from Kenya’s border with Somalia and 370 kilometers from the capital Nairobi, was only protected by four police officers and 12 unarmed private guards.
Given the weak security measures, students were worried and urged the university administration to request additional police officers.
The gunmen, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades, reached the main gate of Garissa University College at about 5:30 to 6:30 am in two cars and shot dead two unarmed guards at the gate.
Soldier in action with his assault team stalking through corridor in abandoned building.
The militants’ entry to the campus was facilitated by an unsecured pedestrian gate, which was open to allow residents of the town to attend the campus mosque for Friday prayers.
Once inside the campus, the attackers engaged two policemen who retreated following a brief exchange of fire. Without opposition, the gunmen quickly proceeded to a classroom used as a Good Friday prayer center and shot 18 students engaged in prayer.
The monitoring group confirmed that, thereafter, the terrorists split into two teams and succeeded in herding students to a hostel located at the end of the campus.
Once most of the students had been forced into a dormitory, one gunman climbed to the second-floor stairway, which he used as a sniper’s nest to fend off security forces personnel, as well as shoot at students sheltering in neighboring dormitories.
Within an hour of the attackers entering the campus, between 107 and 113 students were massacred in one building known as Elgon B. Although security personnel arrived at the campus two hours after the attack, no assault on the militants was made.
That only happened when an elite commando unit arrived from Nairobi in the late afternoon and launched an assault on the dormitory, killing all four gunmen and ending the siege at roughly 6 pm.
Officials said the gunmen were equipped with suicide vests, but the UN monitoring group determined that this was not the case. “One of the militants may have rigged sever
al grenades to serve as a makeshift suicide device,” said its report.
The militants were led by Abdirahim Abdullahi, a law graduate of the University of Nairobi.
Garissa University; 8 Years After Terrorist Attack
