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.
Kenyan warplanes have targeted al-Shabab
positions in Somalia on numerous occasions since 2011
The
bodies of the victims were taken to Nairobi, where relatives identified them
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.
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.
Garissa university campus
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
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