ARMED attackers stormed a university campus in Kenya and opened fire Thursday, killing at least 22 people, authorities said. Kenya’s Disaster Operation Center, a state agency involved in managing the emergency response, said at least 60 others had been injured.

    Gunmen seized Christian hostages at the Moi University campus in Garissa, near the border with Somalia, in a pre-dawn attack.

    One suspect was arrested in the attack, authorities said, adding that 280 students had been rescued while 535 remained unaccounted for.

    Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery told journalists in Garissa that the suspect was arrested while trying to flee the scene and was being interrogated.

    Nkaissery said efforts were under way to track the missing.

    “The institution has 815 students and 60 members of staff. The security agents have managed to account for 280 students and all the staff members,” he told journalists.

    Somali militant group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they released 15 Muslims.

    The insurgents said they separated Muslims from non-Muslims and killed many people in the incident. However, the militants have not stated the exact number of those killed, saying that they were holding hostages inside the university hostels.

    Four police officers on guard responded and one of them was injured during the confrontation.

    “We are trying to avoid casualties, and that is why we are moving in slowly but surely to rescue the hostages,” Nkaissery said.

    The police placed a US$54,350 bounty on the head of Mohamed Kuno, who is Al-Shabaab’s military commander in Lower Jubaregion in southern Somalia.(Xinhua)