Garissa University College attack

== Perpetrators and motive ==
A student survivor said that the gunmen spoke in [[Swahili language|Swahili]], and asserted that they were associated with the [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al-Shabaab]] group.<ref name=AP1 /> The group later claimed responsibility for the attack.<ref name=AFP1>{{cite web |title=Al Shabab massacres 147 Kenyan students |url=http://mg.co.za/article/2015-04-02-al-shabab-take-university-students-hostage-kill-15 |publisher=[[Agence France-Presse]] |access-date=3 April 2015 |date=2 April 2015 |archive-date=4 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404235106/http://mg.co.za/article/2015-04-02-al-shabab-take-university-students-hostage-kill-15 |url-status=live }}</ref> A spokesman for the group, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, said regarding the situation that "when our men arrived, they released the Muslims", but were holding Christians hostage. Rage also stated that his men's "mission is to kill those who are against the Shabab", and that "Kenya is at war with Somalia" in reference to the deployment of Kenyan troops in the [[African Union Mission to Somalia]] (AMISOM).<ref name=AFP1 /> Another spokesman asserted that Al-Shabaab attacked the institution because it was "on Muslim land colonized by non-Muslims".<ref name="Mtsdiaa">{{cite news |title=More than 70 dead in Al-Shabaab attack on Kenyan college, as Christians reportedly held hostage |url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/04/02/garissa-attack-kenya/ |access-date=2 April 2015 |agency=FoxNews |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404095007/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/04/02/garissa-attack-kenya/ |archive-date=4 April 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

One suspected attacker was arrested while fleeing the area during the siege.<ref name=AP1 /> After the siege ended, two more suspected attackers were found on the campus and arrested, one of whom was Tanzanian and had no connections to the university.<ref name="BBC2" />

[[United Kingdom|British]] born [[Jihad]]ist [[Samantha Lewthwaite]] was, at one point, believed by some to have masterminded the attack.<ref>[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/white-widow-samantha-lewthwaite-has-5714810 "White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite 'has killed 400 people in reign of terror against the west"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304152713/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/white-widow-samantha-lewthwaite-has-5714810 |date=4 March 2018 }}, ''Daily Mirror'', 17 May 2015</ref>

The Kenyan government named a citizen of Somali origin Mohamed Kuno (alias Sheikh Mohamed Dulayadayn, Gamadhere, or Mohamed Mohamud) as the mastermind behind the attack, and offered a [[Kenyan shilling|KSh.]]&nbsp;{{shilingi|20,000,000}} (US$215,000) reward for his arrest.<ref name=AFP2 /> From 1993 to 1995, Mohamud had worked at the [[Al-Haramain Foundation]], and later taught and became the principal of the Madrasa Najah school in Garissa until 2007<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Mohamed-Kuno-Garissa-College-attack-mastermind/-/1056/2674114/-/co6umw/-/index.html |title=Government names a Kenyan and a former teacher Mohamed Kuno as Garissa University College attack mastermind |date=28 March 2015 |access-date=28 February 2015 |publisher=Daily Nation (Kenya) |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402152131/http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Mohamed-Kuno-Garissa-College-attack-mastermind/-/1056/2674114/-/co6umw/-/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mwakilishi.com/content/articles/2015/04/02/sh20-million-bounty-for-garissa-attack-mastermind-mohamed-gamadhere.html |title=Sh20 Million Bounty for Garissa Attack Mastermind Mohamed Gamadhere |date=28 March 2015 |access-date=28 February 2015 |publisher=Capital FM News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403022411/http://www.mwakilishi.com/content/articles/2015/04/02/sh20-million-bounty-for-garissa-attack-mastermind-mohamed-gamadhere.html |archive-date=3 April 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="kunodead">{{cite news |title=Garissa university attack plotter 'dead' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36427289 |agency=[[BBC News]] |date=1 June 2016 |access-date=21 June 2019 |archive-date=21 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621054622/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36427289 |url-status=live }}</ref> He later crossed into Somalia to join the [[Union of Islamic Courts]] and then [[Hizbul Islam]], which merged with Al-Shabaab in 2010.<ref name="kunodead"/> The local media had associated Mohamud with two separate Al-Shabaab attacks in 2014 in the Mandera area.<ref name=AFP2 />

On 4 April, Al-Shabaab issued a statement in English aimed at the Kenyan public. The emailed message denounced what it described as "unspeakable atrocities against the Muslims of East Africa" by Kenyan security forces, both in the predominantly ethnic Somali-inhabited North Eastern Province and in southern Somalia, where Kenyan forces had been deployed as part of AMISOM. The militant group indicated that the Garissa shooters wanted to "avenge the deaths of thousands of Muslims killed at the hands of the Kenyan security forces." In further retaliation, Al-Shabaab declared that "Kenyan cities will run red with blood"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-04-04 |title=Kenya university massacre survivor found hiding in cupboard |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenya-garissa-university-attack-massacre-survivor-cynthia-cheroitich-found-cupboard-10155642.html |access-date=2021-05-05 |website=The Independent |language=en |archive-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506205818/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenya-garissa-university-attack-massacre-survivor-cynthia-cheroitich-found-cupboard-10155642.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and vowed that it would "stop at nothing to avenge the deaths of our Muslim brothers until your government ceases its oppression and until all Muslim lands are liberated from Kenyan occupation." The group also warned the Kenyan public that it would target them in their workplaces, residences, schools and universities for "condoning your government's oppressive policies by failing to speak out against them" and for "reinforcing their policies by electing them."<ref name=AFP2 />

On 4 April, the Interior Ministry of Kenya announced that five men suspected of involvement in the attack had been apprehended. Three of the individuals, Kenyan citizens of Somali origin, were believed to have been the organizers. They were intercepted as they were attempting to enter Somalia.<ref name="Karidaaou"/> One of the men, Mohammed Abdirahim Abdullahi (aged 24),<ref name="Rksdtascis">{{cite news |title=Kenya says destroys 2 al Shabaab camps in Somalia |url=https://af.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=AFKBN0MX0PR20150406 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150406160121/http://af.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=AFKBN0MX0PR20150406 |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 April 2015 |access-date=6 April 2015 |work=Reuters |date=6 April 2015}}</ref> was reportedly the son of Bulla Jamhuri chief Abdullahi Daqare in [[Mandera County]].<ref name="Gfgaffhlgih">{{cite news |title=Father of Garissa attacker fears for his life, goes into hiding |url=http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=12658 |access-date=8 April 2015 |agency=Goobjoog |date=7 April 2015 |archive-date=15 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415212023/http://goobjoog.com/english/?p=12658 |url-status=live }}</ref> The other individual was a security guard at the university; also a Kenyan citizen of Somali origin, he was thought to have facilitated entry into the institution. The last suspect, a Tanzanian named Rashid Charles Mberesero, was suspected of having been among the gunmen. He was reportedly found hiding in the ceiling and was carrying ammunition.<ref name="Karidaaou"/> Kenyan police were also searching for a close associate of Abdullahi's, who had received training with him in Somalia and later left for [[Yemen]] to reach [[Syria]].<ref name="Gfgaffhlgih"/>

In June 2016, Mohamed Kuno, who led the attack was killed by regional forces in Somalia during a raid on a convoy in [[Kismayo]], Somalia.<ref name="kunodead"/>

Mberesero, Mohamed Ali Abikar and Hassan Edin Hassan were charged with conspiracy to commit the attack and of belonging to Al-Shabaab.<ref name="3foundguilty">{{cite news |title=Three found guilty over Kenya university massacre |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48695398 |agency=[[BBC News]] |date=19 June 2019 |access-date=21 June 2019 |archive-date=20 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620222333/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48695398 |url-status=live }}</ref> In June 2019, four years after the attack, they were found guilty, while Sahal Diriye Hussein, also charged, was acquitted.<ref name="3foundguilty"/>

On November 15, 2021, Ali Abikar escaped from prison with two other detained Al-Shabaab members.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/three-terrorism-suspects-kenya-escape-prison-police-2021-11-15/ |title=Kenyan police say three 'dangerous' inmates flee maximum security prison |work=Reuters |date=15 November 2021 |access-date=15 November 2021 |archive-date=15 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115172345/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/three-terrorism-suspects-kenya-escape-prison-police-2021-11-15/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but were later apprehended in [[Kitui County]] in South Eastern Kenya as they attempted to cross to Somalia, three days later by Kenyan authorities following a tip-off from locals of the area.<ref>{{cite news |title=TOP STORIES3 Terror Convicts Who Escaped From Kamiti Prison Arrested |url=https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2021/11/3-terror-convicts-who-escaped-from-kamiti-prison-arrested/ |agency=Capital FM |publisher=Capital FM |access-date=21 January 2022 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121205706/https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2021/11/3-terror-convicts-who-escaped-from-kamiti-prison-arrested/ |url-status=live }}</ref>