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Five people are in custody following the al-Shabaab attack in eastern Kenya on Thursday which left almost 150 people dead, officials say.
Some of the suspects were arrested while trying to flee to neighbouring Somalia, the internal security ministry said.
At least 148 people – mostly students — were killed when gunmen attacked a university campus in Garissa.
Al-Shabaab has since pledged a “long, gruesome war” against Kenya.
The militant group said its attacks were in retaliation for acts by Kenya’s security forces, who are part of the African Union’s mission in Somalia against al-Shabaab. Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday ordered 10 000 police recruits whose enrolment was stopped by the courts last year to immediately report to the Police Training College in Kiganjo, Nyeri County.
President Kenyatta blamed the insecurity in the country on a shortage of police officers and directed that the recruits start training immediately.
“I further direct the inspector-general of police to take urgent steps and ensure that the 10 000 recruits, whose enrolment is pending, promptly report for training at the Kenya Police College, Kiganjo,” President Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation in the wake of Thursday’s dawn attack on Garissa University College.
“I take full responsibility for this directive. We have suffered unnecessarily due to shortage of security personnel. Kenya badly needs additional officers, and I will not keep the nation waiting,” he noted.
— Wires
Online Reporter