After Islamist attack, armed guards shield Kenyan churches

After Islamist attack, armed guards shield Kenyan churches

• Kenya Administration policemen stand in front of Garissa University College in Garissa Reuters

Kenyan churches used armed guards to protect their Easter congregations on Sunday, days after gunmen from the Islamist al Shabaab group killed nearly 150 people at a Kenyan university.

Kenyan priests, who have been frequently targeted by Islamists, said they feared churches could be targeted on Easter Sunday, the main liturgical feast in the Christian calendar.

“We are very concerned about the security of our churches and worshippers, especially this Easter period, and also because it is clear that these attackers are targeting Christians,”

Willybard Lagho, a Mombasa-based Catholic priest and chairman of the Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics (CICC), told Reuters.

He said churches in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa were hiring armed police and private security guards for mass on Easter Sunday. Christians make up 83% of Kenya’s 44

million population.

Four masked militants from the Somali Islamist group stormed a university campus in Garissa on Thursday, seeking out Christian students to kill while sparing some Muslims.

Related read: Kenya university attack: Five arrested; death toll seen rising; anger over security failures

Al Shabaab group said the assault on Garissa, some 200km (120 miles) from the Somali border, was revenge for Kenya sending troops into Somalia to fight alongside African Union

peacekeepers against the al Qaeda-aligned group.

The militants have threatened to turn Kenyan cities “red with blood” with more attacks.

via NorthEast Calling http://ift.tt/1GxLvsO