=========================================================================================================== Mark Your Calendars For AAM'S Membership Appreciation Night! Date: Saturday, April 11, 2015 Time: 7:00 pm - Close Venue: Neighborhood House, 29 S. Mills Street, Madison, WI. Pay Your Dues and Enter Free! =========================================================================================================== 6 April, 2015 BBC News Africa [image: Al-Shabab militants] Al-Shabab says it is at war with Kenya Kenyan fighter jets have bombed positions of militant Islamist group al-Shabab in neighbouring Somalia, a military spokesman has told the BBC. The warplanes had targeted two camps in the Gedo region, used by al-Shabab to cross into Kenya, the spokesman added. This is Kenya's first response to the al-Shabab assault which left 148 people dead at Garissa University last week. President Uhuru Kenyatta had vowed to respond to the attack "in the severest way possible". Kenyan army spokesman David Obonyo told the BBC that the military had responded to "threats" by launching the air strike on Sunday night in the remote region. Two al-Shabab camps had been destroyed, he said. [image: kenyan air force jet, F5, from 2008] Kenyan warplanes have targeted al-Shabab positions in Somalia on numerous occasions since 2011 [image: Kenya Red Cross staff assist a woman after she viewed the body of a relative killed in Thursday's attack Nairobi, Kenya, 3 April 2015] The bodies of the victims were taken to Nairobi, where relatives identified them [image: A woman reacts after seeing her son who was rescued from the Garissa University attack in Kenya's capital Nairobi 4 April 2015] Many families are still waiting to identify loved ones killed in the assault The attack on Garissa University, about 150km (90 miles) from the Somali border, was the deadliest by al-Shabab in Kenya. The al-Qaeda affiliate says it is at war with Kenya, and wants it to withdraw troops sent to Somalia in 2011 to help the weak government in Mogadishu fight the militants. 'Charming fellow' Governors and MPs from north-eastern Kenya have called for the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp, where about 500,000 people who fled conflict in Somalia are taking shelter. They told a news conference in the capital, Nairobi, that the camp was used by al-Shabab as a training and coordination centre. Aid agencies have rejected previous calls for the closure of Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in Africa. An MP in Garissa, Aden Duale, said Kenya should "engage" with the international community to step up patrols along its long and porous border with Somalia. [image: Kenyan troops preparing to sweep Garissa campus, 2 April 2015] The government denies that the military failed to respond swiftly to the assault Meanwhile, Kenya's government has denied accusations that its security forces were slow to respond to Thursday's assault on the university. Mr Kenyatta's spokesman Manoah Espisu told the BBC that the military was at the scene within minutes of the attack, and had helped save the lives of many students on campus. Local media reported that it took special forces several hours to arrive at the university because of delays in their flight from Nairobi. The attack ended when the four militants were killed by police more than 15 hours after they stormed the university. One of the gunmen has been named as Abdirahim Abdullahi, a law student who graduated from Nairobi University in 2013. His father is a local chief, and had reported his son missing, according to local media. A former fellow student of Abdullahi told BBC Newsday that he had been a "charming fellow" who did not show any sign of holding militant views at university. "He was very intelligent... I was very shocked that a person I sat with in class - what would drive someone to change so much?" said the former student, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals. [image: line] *Garissa university campus* [image: Garissa University map] 1. Militants enter the university grounds, two guards are shot dead 2. Shooting begins within the campus 3. Students attacked in their classrooms while preparing for exams 4. Gunmen believed isolated in the female dormitories 5. Some students make an escape through the fence Kenya's stoic survivors defy al-Shabab <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32189288> Who are the victims? <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32177496> Survivors 'were too scared to scream' <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32172973> Why is al-Shabab targeting Kenya? <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32174235> -- Ann Marie "The art of living consists of knowing what to pay attention to, and what to ignore. -- Mardy Grothe ################################################################################################# Join the African Association of Madison, Inc. for $25 per year. 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