Some residents threw stones at the bodies as the police passed while others jeered and shouted.
Kenyan police have paraded four corpses of al Shabaab gunmen involved in the Garissa University College attack through the city. Tossing grenades and spraying bullets at cowering students, the attackers initially killed indiscriminately. But they later freed some Muslims and instead targeted Christian students during a siege that lasted about 15 hours.
At least 147 people were killed.
Garissa University College in Kenya. Picture: Google Earth.
Police officials say the four bloated and naked bodies were displayed to see if anyone could identify the assailants.
Hundreds, including children, took to the streets to see the dead bodies which were piled on top of each other face down in the back of a pickup truck.
Some residents threw stones at the bodies as they passed while others jeered and shouted.
NO GOING BACK
Al-Shabaab’s violence has dented Kenya’s image and ravaged the country’s vital tourism industry. The timing of the attack was embarrassing for Kenyatta, who a day earlier had berated Britain and Australia for issuing travel warnings for Kenya due to security threats.
Kenyatta rejected the notion that Nairobi has neglected Muslims and Kenyan Somalis, who say they are marginalised by the authorities.
But diplomats and analysts criticise what they see as Kenya’s heavy-handed approach in trying to tackle al Shabaab, saying tactics such as indiscriminate mass arrests of the Somali population plays into the radicals’ hands and fuels resentment among Muslims.
Garissa residents have reacted with fury to the massacre, and question why only two security guards were on duty despite warnings that al Shabaab was planning to target a university.
“You can’t say this will be the last attack in Garissa,” said construction worker Tobias Ayuka. “We are very worried.”
Fearful of further assaults, owners of malls in Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa have sought greater government protection and ratcheted up private security.
“We are getting more armed police and plain clothes police officers. Everywhere is on heightened alert right now,” said the owner of one high-end Nairobi mall popular with Westerners, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Along Kenya’s palm-fringed coastline, where several resort towns cater mainly for Western tourists, police have deployed armed officers in major public buildings.
“Officers are everywhere both on the ground and in the air. We have two helicopters that will be patrolling the entire coastal area,” Robert Kitur, police chief for Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast region, told Reuters.
Garissa Governor Nathif Jama said the region has a number of security “soft spots”, including schools and hospitals, and asked for more boots on the ground in his county, which forms part of Kenya’s porous 700km border with Somalia.
Jama said Garissa University was shut indefinitely and some students said even if it reopened, they would not return.
“When I just manage to get out of this place safely, I’m telling you I’ll never come back,” said Sheillah Kigasha, 20, who survived Thursday’s rampage by hiding under a bed.
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Audio: India Condemns attack
(Source: Eye Witness News)
