Kenyan Airstrikes Hit al-Shabab for College Attack

Kenya launched airstrikes against Islamic militants in Somalia following last week's extremist attack on a Kenyan college that killed 148 people, a military spokesman said today. Warplanes attacked positions of al-Shabab yesterday afternoon and this morning in the Gedo region of Somalia, said Col. David Obonyo of the Kenyan military. Al-Shabab, which is based in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the college attack Thursday in the Kenyan town of Garissa, but Obonyo notes, "This is part of continuing operations, not just in response to Garissa [University College]."

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta had vowed harsh measures against al-Shabab following the slaughter at Garissa, which is near the border with Somalia. Kenya has troops in Somalia as part of an African Union force to attack al-Shabab and shore up the beleaguered Somali government, and it has carried out airstrikes before. Al-Shabab said it attacked students at Garissa University College as a reprisal for Kenya sending troops into Somalia. Five men have been arrested in connection with the slaughter, Al Jazeera reports. (More Kenya stories.)