garissa, kenya <u+2014> tension and anxiety remained high friday as the kenyan military launched a campaign to flush out terrorists linked to the garissa university college massacre.









the campaign came as kenyan inspector general of police joseph boinett imposed a curfew on the borderlands with somalia from 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. local time.









few businesses remained open early on friday evening before the curfew took hold. some said the heavily armed kenyan troops were overly zealous in rooting out al shabaab terrorists who have claimed responsibility for the attacks.









"it's not safe here for us as residents," said abdikadir adolwa. "the soldiers are whipping residents to force them to identify terrorists. the military have terrorized this area and we fear going to the streets of the town."









many residents who could stay outside the town opted to leave while the troops were present.









"they're arresting people who have no national identity cards," said nathar abdkir balza, a mother of five, who owns a hotel in garissa. "you can be arrested for loitering."









ethnic somalis especially have deserted the area. al shabaab hails from nearby somalia.









"the somalis like miraa but they are now afraid to come to town and buy it," said kevin kariuki, who sells miraa, or khat, an african plant that has slightly intoxicating effects when chewed.









earlier friday, the kenyan government appealed for help in capturing nine men, described as "bloodthirsty, armed and dangerous," in the wake of an attack on garissa university that left 148 people dead.









attackers from the somali-based terror group al-shabab told university students before they were killed that "this is the beginning of more attacks" targeting schools and universities in the country, the kenya-based standard reported.









the four gunmen were killed thursday as security forces moved to end the 15-hour siege, which appeared to target christians and islamic converts. two security guards, one policeman and one soldier were among the dead. at least 79 people were injured, and more than 500 students held hostage were rescued.









interior minister joseph nkaissery updated the casualties figures friday, saying the gunmen killed 148 people. he said 142 of the dead were students, three were policemen and three were soldiers. nkaissery added that 104 people were wounded.









survivor claire mumo, a student, was in the college when the terrorists attacked on thursday.









"i was woken up by gunshot sounds inside our dormitory. the four gunmen i noticed ordered everybody to lie down before they started shooting at us," said mumo. "the blood of my friend spilled on my head when she was shot. the gunmen thought they had shot and killed me."









the gunmen left her alone because they thought she was already dead, she said. as she lay on the floor, she heard them carry out their plans.









"i heard them asking and separating muslims and christians students. then shortly i heard sounds of gunshots," mumo added. "i only came out when i saw our security forces collecting bodies. i will never forget this attack. i'm lucky to be alive."









survivor helen titus said one of the first things that the al-shabab gunmen did when they entered the campus early thursday was to head for a lecture hall where christians were in prayer. al-shabab is a somalia-based islamic extremist group with ties to al-qaida.









"they investigated our area. they knew everything," titus told the associated press outside a hospital in garissa where she was being treated for a bullet wound to the wrist.









titus, a 21-year-old english literature student, said she smeared blood from classmates on her face and hair and lay still at one point in hopes the gunmen would think she was dead.









the gunmen also told students hiding in dormitories to come out, assuring them that they would not be killed, said titus, who wore a patient's gown as she sat on a bench in the hospital yard.









"we just wondered whether to come out or not," she said. many students did, whereupon the gunmen started shooting men, saying they would not kill "ladies," titus said. but they also shot women and targeted christians, said titus, who is a christian.









esther wanjiru said she was awake at the time of the attack. asked if she lost anyone, she said: "my best friend."









another survivor, nina kozel, said she was awakened by screaming and that many students escaped by sprinting to the fences and jumping over them. some suffered bruises, she said. many men were unable to escape, and hid in vain under beds and in closets in their rooms, according to kozel.









"they were shot there and then," she said.









the mortuaries in garissa, near the somali border in northeastern kenya, were so overwhelmed they had to ship many of the bodies to the capital of nairobi, 200 miles away, the bbc reported.









the government began evacuating students who survived the thursday terror attack, but many parents still don't know about their fate of their children.









"i phoned my daughter susan since yesterday in the morning when i received bad news about the attack, but she didn't pick my calls," said eunice wangari, a mother of three. "i don't know if she's still alive or not. the government is taking too long to identify the bodies. i am very stressed."









judith musyoka, 45, and boaz musyoka, 55, are still searching for their son, sammy mutiso musau in the wake of the attack that killed 147 students and staff.









"i don't know if my son is still alive," said boaz. "when i heard the news about terror attack i called him several times but his phone was not going through. i need to know his fate."









a curfew was imposed for two weeks on garissa and three neighboring counties. cabinet secretary of education jacob kaimenyi ordered the university closed for an unspecified period, sending many students lugging suitcases onto buses friday.









the kenya national union of teachers (knut) advised teachers in the region to leave immediately if they felt unsafe.









"we will not allow our teachers to risk their lives working in an insecure environment," said willison sosion, chairman of knut, who called for garissa university to be closed permanently.









some kenyans were angry that the government didn't take sufficient security precautions. the attack came six days after britain advised "against all but essential travel" to parts of kenya, including garissa.









a day before the attack, president uhuru kenyatta dismissed that warning as well as an australian one pertaining to nairobi and mombasa, saying: "kenya is safe as any country in the world. the travel advisories being issued by our friends are not genuine."









garissa gov. nathif jama adam condemned the attack and demanded the government address security in the region to stop locals from leaving.









"i want to plead with kenyans to stay here as we work with the government to boost security in our region," he said, in particular appealing to christians in the region. "we'll not allow terrorists to divide our people on religion lines."









kenyan officials offered a $220,000 bounty for mohammed mohamud, who they suspect planned the attack. on social media, the interior ministry called him "the mastermind."









mohamud, who goes by other aliases, may have been assisted by two youths who conducted surveillance on the university, kenya's the star newspaper reported. he reportedly has claimed responsibility for a bus attack that left dozens dead late last year.









national chairperson of the national muslim council of kenya, nazlin umar fazaldin rajput, criticized the government for failing to shore up security after somali-based militants attacked civilians in retaliation for kenyan military operations against their base in somalia. kenya began those operations in 2011 after a spate of kidnappings.









"all it took was four poorly armed terrorists against our entire intelligence and armed forces. this is a shame," she said. "it is not the terrorist who is an enemy, the enemy is our failed security apparatus and the officers charged with those dockets."









rajput said the kenyan military can do a better job guarding the borders and the people.









"until we replace inefficient officers with efficient ones and address the root cause of our suffering, we will not win the battle against terror," she said. "we have the u.n. and foreign countries giving kenya intelligence reports, but there is no efficient execution, save to harass innocent muslims."









others said muslims, like all kenyans, must cooperate with authorities, pointing to another terror attack near dadaab camp for refugees <u+2014> 10 miles from garissa university <u+2014> on thursday.









dadaab deputy county commissioner albert kimanthi said an unknown number of gunmen wearing balaclavas and armed with ak-47 rifles stormed the camp around 3 a.m. and killed a teacher. the gunmen injured four guards.









"it's our responsibility to give intelligence necessary information to curb such attacks," he said. "the joint operation that involves the regular and administration police officers has been working hard to nab the criminals."









at garissa university, maureen manyego, 21, hid in a wardrobe in a women's dormitory during the attacks. she said the terrorists lectured their victims on why they were about to die.









"we are here to kill and die with you," the militants said, she told the standard. "we are not afraid of death."









they told the students they were being killed "to pay for the arrogance of your political leader" who refuses to remove troops from somalia.









"as long as kenya's military is in somalia, it will be paid with its citizens blood," the militants said, according to manyego.
in kenyan town where students were massacred, 'it's not safe'
noauthor