Somali militants vowed on Saturday to state “another bloodbath” in Kenya after the Islamic extremists killed nearly 150 people during a raid at a Kenyan university.
On Saturday the group threatened to wage a long war against Kenya and run its cities “red with blood,” Reuters reported.
Kenyan officials said they had arrested five men in connection with Thursday’s attacks at Garissa university by Al-Shabaab gunmen who singled out Christians for execution.
The Al Qaeda affiliated group said the raid was revenge for Kenya’s military presence in Somalia and the mistreatment of Muslims within Kenya, Reuters reported.
“No amount of precaution or safety measures will be able to guarantee your safety, thwart another attack or prevent another bloodbath from occurring in your cities,” the group said in an email statement to Reuters.
“This will be a long, gruesome war of which you, the Kenyan public, are its first casualties,” the statement read.
The governor for Garissa county, Nadif Jama, said the threat was based on the “satanic” mindset of Al-Shabaab.
“The fallacy and satanic mindset of Al-Shabaab is that in Somalia, they kill Muslims and Somalis,” Mr. Jama said, CNN reported. “They cross the border here and then say they are killing non-Muslims. That is a tricky way of doing business.”
Mr. Jama said the militants were “bent on nothing but destruction,” and sought to divide Muslims and non-Muslims.
“But that is something we need to fight,” Mr. Jama said, CNN reported.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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