Eight killed in Kenyan university attack

At least eight people were killed and over 30 injured after unidentified gunmen forced their way into a university in northeastern Kenya and opened fire at the students, a relief agency said on Thursday.

Kenya Red Cross Society said the injured people have been rushed to hospital. Four of them were in critical condition and would be airlifted for specialised treatment to Nairobi later on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The agency said hospitals urgently need blood for the injured, who had escaped with gunshot wounds after masked gunmen exchanged gunfire with security forces at the Moi University campus in Garissa town near the border with Somalia around 5.30 a.m.

Ishmael Abdikadir, a witness, said the situation seems to have calmed down, but more wounded people were still being rushed to hospitals in the country.

"Some injured persons had their legs cut off and most of them had gunshot wounds," Abdikadir told Xinhua via phone.

There are fears of mass casualties as the gunmen were still holed up in the compound, an earlier report cited Kenya's National Disaster Operations Centre as saying.

"The security forces have cornered the gunmen in one dormitory. They are not allowing anyone inside the compound and have taken control," Hamza Yusuf, a student, said.

Abdikadir said the gunmen went into the college posing as worshippers for morning prayers.

"There were many students who were there for the morning prayers. There could be many casualties," Abdikadir said.

The attack started from the mosque inside the campus where the attackers shot at worshippers indiscriminately.

Students who escaped the gunfire said there were at least five attackers. Many other students and teachers were still being held hostage.

Security officials said there had been threats to the institutions there from terror groups.

"We had the threats earlier and had alerted the institutions here," a security official said.