Kenya bombs al Shabaab camps in Somalia in response to Garissa attack

The Kenyan air force bombed two al Shabaab camps in Somalia on Sunday, a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) source said, in the first major military response to last week's attack by the militant group on a Kenyan university.

Gunmen from the al Qaeda-aligned group killed 148 people on Thursday when they stormed the Garissa University College campus, some 200 km (120 miles) from the Somali border.

Jets pounded the camps in Gondodowe and Ismail, both in the Gedo region bordering Kenya, the military source said on Monday. Cloud cover made it difficult to establish how much damage the bombings caused or estimate the death toll.

"We targeted the two areas because according to information we have, those (al Shabaab) fellows are coming from there to attack Kenya," he said.

Kenya has struggled to stop the flow of al Shabaab militants and weapons across its porous 700km border with Somalia.

Al Shabaab militants have killed more than 400 people in Kenya since April 2013.

An African Union peacekeeping force that includes Kenyan troops, and which is fighting the group in Somalia, carried out arrests and seized ammunitions in an al Shabaab camp in Gondodowe last August.

related articles
Kenya gunmen sought out Christians and non-Muslims as they begged for mercy, praying \'Jesus, please save us\'
Kenya gunmen sought out Christians and non-Muslims as they begged for mercy, praying 'Jesus, please save us'

An eyewitness of the deadly assault by Somali Islamist militants on a Kenyan university spoke on Friday of three female students he saw executed as they begged for mercy.

Kenya: Armed guards protecting Easter congregations after Islamist attack
Kenya: Armed guards protecting Easter congregations after Islamist attack

Kenyan churches used armed guards to protect their Easter congregations on Sunday, days after gunmen from the Islamist al Shabaab group killed nearly 150 people at a Kenyan university.

Christian student survived Garissa attack by hiding in cupboard for 2 days
Christian student survived Garissa attack by hiding in cupboard for 2 days

Extraordinary tales of courage and survival are emerging from the Islamist university massacre in Kenya.

Kenyatta says campus attackers \'embedded\' in Kenya\'s Muslim community
Kenyatta says campus attackers 'embedded' in Kenya's Muslim community

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Saturday that those behind an attack in which al Shabaab Islamist militants killed 148 people at a university were "deeply embedded" in Kenya, and called on Kenyan Muslims to help prevent radicalization.

Kenya says government official\'s son was among gunmen in Garissa University attack
Kenya says government official's son was among gunmen in Garissa University attack

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Saturday that those behind an attack in which al Shabaab Islamist militants killed 148 people at a university were "deeply embedded" in Kenya, and called on Kenyan Muslims to help prevent radicalization.

News
Historic Lancashire church awarded £614,000 towards restoration of Elizabethan ceiling
Historic Lancashire church awarded £614,000 towards restoration of Elizabethan ceiling

The money will go towards restoring its centuries-old Elizabethan ceiling and improve facilities for worshippers and the wider community.

Settler attacks in Taybeh leading to exodus of Christians
Settler attacks in Taybeh leading to exodus of Christians

Taybeh has lost 10 per cent of its population in three years.

Questions raised about demolition of 19th century church in Manchester
Questions raised about demolition of 19th century church in Manchester

Save Britain's Heritage has questioned the process behind the decision to call in the bulldozers.

Bishop raises plight of Christians caught in Sudanese civil war
Bishop raises plight of Christians caught in Sudanese civil war

Sudan has been in a state of civil war for most of its post-independence history.