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 strikes on Sunday night in
the remote region.
Two camps had been destroyed, he said, adding:
"The bombings are part of the continued process and engagement against
al-Shabab, which will go on."
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.
Analysis: Abdullahi Abdi, BBC Africa, Nairobi
This
is the latest in a series of air strikes that Kenya's military has
carried out in Somalia. Often, they are accompanied by reports of
civilian casualties - in this instance, I have heard of a mother and her
two children being wounded.
Many people in Somalia believe the
air assault is merely aimed at showing Kenyans that the government is
responding to the threat posed by al-Shabab.
They point out there
was a similar strike after al-Shabab killed 36 quarry workers in
Kenya's north-eastern Mandera region in December. Then, too, there were
reports of civilian casualties, while Kenya failed to provide any proof
of al-Shabab being hit.
This is in contrast to US air strikes in Somalia, which lead to the killing of al-Shabab fighters and leaders.
'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.
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.
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