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Christians targeted in Kenya university massacre

Four gunmen were killed by security forces at the end of a 16-hour siege which started just before dawn on Thursday.

Kenyan authorities have now issued a dusk-to-dawn curfew on four regions near the Somalia border.

Collins Wetangula, the vice chairman of the student union, told the Associated Press how Christians were being specifically targeted with students asked to state their religion.

He said: "All I could hear were footsteps and gunshots nobody was screaming because they thought this would lead the gunmen to know where they are."

"The gunmen were saying 'sisi ni al-Shabaab' (Swaihi for we are al-Shabaab)."

"If you were a Christian you were shot on the spot. With each blast of the gun I thought I was going to die."

Speaking before the siege was brought to an end, Al-Shabaab's spokesman, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, told Sky News, the group was targeting Christians. "We sorted people out and released the Muslims. There are many dead bodies of Christians inside the building. We are also holding many Christians alive. Fighting still goes on inside the college."

Kenyan national police said that the gunmen stormed past campus security at the main gate and began spraying bullets indiscriminately, "basically from all angles," blogger Robert Alai Onyango said.

The gunshots started ringing "like fireworks" around 5 a.m., according to witness Milka N'dugu. Once inside buildings, gunmen reportedly ordered people to get on the floor, though some were able to escape to a nearby military building.

Revd Dr Patrick Mungiriria is from the Presbyterian Church based in Nairobi. Speaking about the attack, he called on believers in the UK to pray.

Speaking on Premier's News Hour, he said: "It is a very challenging situation, what is taking place.

"What I would encourage churches is to pray.

al-Shabaab have been behind a number of attacks in Kenya with many churches targeted.

Last year after a bus attack left 28 dead, church leaders issued a statement calling on Muslim leaders to take stronger action to stop the extremists. It said: "We want to see a deliberate and concerted effort by our Muslim brothers and sisters.

"They [Muslim leaders] must move merely beyond condemning the spate of attacks targeting non-Muslims to initiating practical steps to the sympathisers of terror and helping us to build bridges between faiths and communities".

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