again, this attack didn't occur in nairobi it occurred in garissa. we want to go to nairobi now where robin is, the chief africa correspondent for enca, the african television broadcaster thank you for your time. what is your and your colleague's latest reporting on what's going on in garissa? >> well, i believe that the fact that it happened not in nairobi as you say in fact in garissa is an interesting question. everyone was expecting that if it was to be another spectacular attack similar to the ones we've seen such as the west gate attack or perhaps the attacks which occurred close to the kenyan coastline near the luxury resort that it would would be in one of those places where tourists go that would make maximum headlines. where it occurred, northeastern kenya, very heavily muslim population a lot of somali kenyans living and working there, that surprised us that such a brutal attack would have taken place. the question i guess why that university? why not another university, why this particular soft target. some analysts have said some kind of

embassy in nairobi has responded to the attack with a tweet. you see it on the screens here. >> i'll read it to you -- "we are sadden and angered by the terrorist attack at garissa university. our deepest condolences to family and friends of the victims. #cowardsneverwin." all right. we want to turn to cnn's reporter live from nairobi, kenya, where she is monitoring this situation. so what all do we know at this point? >> reporter: as you rightly put it, so far we know that at least eight people have been confirmed dead. and according to reports from the ground, two of them are the guards who were at the main gate when the gunmen in and started by shooting one of the guards at the main gate and another soon after. we know that the joint forces are still on the ground. so far there is a report that the attackers have been cornered into one of the dormitories. the police are still struggling to flush them out. when they initially attacked at 5:30 in the morning, the police were able to fight them off briefly, and they were able to retreat. then a

this is a place that is 360km away from nairobi. northern part of the country - it is largely a desert area where little grows, there's little rain fall and the people are poor. insecurity from somali because of the porous border between kenya and somali has affected the people inordinately. and apart from the insecurity the people have faced back lashes from the system. wherever the government sends forces to go and deal with an issue of insecurity the people are the victims. >> al jazeera's mohammed adow joined us from the capital nairobi. thank you >>> as we continue the edition of "inside story", let's stay in nairobi, we are joined from ion security a military veteran consulted on security in kenya welcome to the programme. after this attack in garissa university and the west field maul attack there were complaints about the slowness and the quality of the response of the kenyan military. is the military trained and equipped to respond to these kind of attacks? >> yes. in a few years ago. a few years ago, the military formed sp

kenyan students hold a protest in nairobi. 15 police in an ambush in western mexico. >>> and they're short charging the

malcolm webb joins us on the phone from nairobi. what more details are emerging about this incident? >> it happened about 4:00 in the morning local time, a transformer exploded, it happens from time to time in nairobi because of electricity e-electrical situations, which followed protests by students, following the attack in garrissa. calling for more security at university saying universities were vulnerable and likely to be attacked. so initially this has been something on many people's minds and when this transformer exploded we understand dozens and dozens of students stampeded and dozens were injured in the resulting stampede. >> this shows how much more work the government needs to do in order to calm people's nerves in cnkenkenya. >> they saw what happened in garrissa. campuses say they could be overcome in the event of another attack. they've asked for forces to be stepped up everywhere and it would be substantial visible presence to assure everyone that the government is in control of the situation if that begins happening

disorganized group as well and whether the person who says he is legitimate head of that group in nairobis power on the ground has to be questioned as well. >> what are realities on the ground in central african republic and this deal of the saudi nairobi going to change anything because when you take in account the two parties who are signatories admit they do not exercise control over fighters on the ground you wonder if there is a point in signing this deal. >> the people who are signing this deal some of them have committed serious atrocities in the central african republic suffering from violence for many, many years but particularly in the last few years so some people would say this is more about getting amnesty for these people for themselves and making themselves relevant and actually dealing with the problems on the ground in central african republic like poverty, like disarmament, right now in bongi it is the same price a coke can is the same price as buying a grenade and you can see how cheap arms are in the capitol and other parts of the country. most people are still armed.

. >>> in kenya, students have rallied in the streets of nairobi.y are demanding better security at universities in the wake of the brutal attack last thursday. 148 people were killed by al-shabab gunmen after they stormed the university campus. police have presented five suspects arrested in connection with that attack. malcolm webb has more from nairobi. >> reporter: they want more security across the country. there had been warnings about the vulnerability at universities. they said a particular university was vulnerable because it was in an unstable part of kenya where al-shabab has launched several attacks in the last year or so and because there were a diversity of students they saw it as a vulnerable target and wanted more security there, soldiers or armed police. they made that request to the government but security never came and when the university was attacked it did prove very vulnerable indeed. now students have taken to the streets to demand this extra security. they have now -- we have just found out they have moved into the universit

he had a stint as a lawyer in one of the banks in nairobi. we also spoke to a journalist who had talked to his father he is a government chief so his father said, yes that's his son. he said the last time he saw him,him was in may last year and when he had disappeared. when he had that the. >> catherine soi updating us on events in garrisa two journalists held by the nigerian military says the 24th of march has been released: embedded with the military when they were arrested from reporting. our clears were allowed to leave the hotel when they were detained and have completed the journey back to the bureau. the director of news says we are pleased for them, that they are their ordeal is over. they are looking forward to spending time with families and loved ones. i know both of them want to thank everyone who helped security their release including ngos politicians. itsis ill prime minister netanyahu has taken to the air waves in the u.s. to again argue a nuclear deal with iran will be bad for everyone. activities if the west doesn't hold up

malcolm webb reports from nigh nairobi nairobi. >> reporter: business is booming for daniel. his chicken farms near nairobi. key to his suggestions are antibiotics. he puts them in their drinking water. he changes to another drug. >> you will find you have given the treatment as required but maybe 50% of the bugs have not been cured. so what happens, you have to change what you are using because that means it's not effect zarif. >> just a few kilometers in the city, it's takeaways like this where the chickens end up. every day, all across the developing oral more and more people are eating food like this and not only chicken bi other meat and animal products growing populations mean there are more mouths to feed. growing economies mean more can afford food like this. in a developed oral most countries reached their maximum meat consumption. in the world's giant emerging economies like china and brazil it's been growing for deck it's a and expected to go for decades to come. here in kenya, the boom is only really just begun. >> more meat means more antibiotics. >> means more b

. >> we have a report from nairobi. robert, tell us what information you have on this attack so far. >> reporter: we have basically what you're seeing, the attacks are outside -- the shooting sporadically. it's not clear how many were killed. local security saying at least two police officers have been injured, two security officers. not clear if it's the army or regular police. i've spoken to the former acting inspector general of police who told me there's engagement currently. they have surrounded the attackers. he's saying that now. he's not clear on what casualties are there. >> and robert, what are the number of attackers? do we have any idea what authorities are dealing with here at this hour? >> reporter: the security officers are saying that at least ten of them are under attack. none of them know the exact number or a clear number of how many attacks there were. >> there's reports that this may well be al shabaab militants. we don't know, of course, at this time. what are authorities telling you about that ass

. >>> hundreds of kenyan university students have been marching through nairobi calling for better security after the garissa university attack. they want compensation for the families of 148 victims, construction of a memorial and tightened security on campuses. the students stopped at the office of the president uhuru kenyatta to present their demands. >>> a vigil is held for the victims, mohammed adow joins us from nairobi. tell us more about what is happening at the moment. >> well a sombre mood here tonight here in the heart of nairobi. hundreds of kenyans turned up around dusk and gathered in this square where i am standing behind me and they lit candles, wrote notes and stand in memorial of the 147 students killed in the garissa attack. they are asking questions, and some are chanting why were they gunned down. why were they gunned down. they had placards with pictures of some of the students who were killed as well as crosses, each marking the grave - symbolic grave of those who died. they had the flags of kenyans draped over. a sombre mood here, and kenyans are asking for quick act

back to you. >> officials say the gunman was a former graduate of nairobi university law school. his father reported him missing last year. the other three gunmen have not yet been identified. >>> coming up grow crops or sell their water? a serious dilemma for california farmers. we'll tell you why many are simply deciding to let their fields go empty. >>> faced with a puchbishing brought water agencies in southern california offering to buy water from farmers in the northern part of the state. >> that is presenting them with a unique dilemma, should they keep growing their crops or cash in? holly jackson explains. >> reporter: this dust will turn to mud in a couple of weeks when charlie matthews floods his rice foolds with millions of gallons of water. >> but some of his fellow farmers may stay dry. choosing instead to sell their water south, for more money than they'd make growing rice. doesn't this create an interesting dilemma for you? are you a water seller or are you a rice farmer? we primarily want to be a rice farmer but in order to be a rice farmer we have to have the wa

the university of nairobi warned there was intelligence suggesting a possible attack by fighters from the armed group al-shabab, and here is the statement saying: so it begs the question what was done about this. was security stepped up sufficiently? >> well the kenyan government had lashed out at the u.k. for saying these, and saying it was a problem because it was going to affect tourism, one of the main areas in kenya. they didn't know specifically which university which is why nairobi university reacted to the intelligence. in a departure of his predecessor, the current leader of al-shabab seemed to concentrate most of his attacks in the north-east of the country. this is an area that is exclusively inhabited by somalis. and the border is inhabited by people of the same language as well as culture. and religion of the people on the other side. they are the same people actually. he is taking advantage of the possibility of his fighters who he wants to carry out attacks, to mingle within the local population. he's taking advantage of the disquiet between the kenyan government and th

nairobi construction boom is part of it a lot of coffee plants on the city have been pulled up and landevelopers and the new properties do not provide jobs if the long-term, nearby this is one of the farmers who is still growing it she is 81 she says she gets a fair price and provided her a steady income throughout most of her life. but she says many of her neighbors gave up. >> translator: sometimes the meals were not well organized and few people who could help and advice so people opted out. >> reporter: back at the exchange they know the business better than most and is the ceo. >> it's not a problem, production is the problem. when you look at the production of the bush, it can go up to even about 40 a bush. currently we are producing about that and that is our problem. >> reporter: here on the trading floor kenya coffee may make good money but farmers to keep their plants need advice and investment and the government says it's trying to help. everyone in the business including robert hopes for a turn around in the coming years, millions of kenya jobs depend on it malcolm web, al j

she is in nairobi. dennis let me start with you. is the latest from the ground that you're hearing? >> reporter: actually in garissa town and we've been here for several hours, and what we've been able to see. there's been a lot of activity going on. the military has took over the operation. no one goes in and no one leaves out without the military's knowledge. >> at the moment i can confirm one military officer has been killed and one administration officer has has been killed. bodies are being flown to nairobi by a private plane. two more bodies are going to be buried here. several other people have been injured. we can't confirm the number. they have yet to come up with a specific figure of how many have been injured but counting the number of militants in the past year, the number could actually go high and the number killed could actually rise. the military was trying to avoid a situation where they don't want a repeat when the siege went on for three day. they are trying to bring closure as soon as possible but it's already do

malcolm web is live for us now in nairobi. clearly a lot of anger in the country in the wake of that brutal attack on the university in garissa and questions about kenyan security. >> that's right. the students' message is clear. they want more security at all universities for all students across the country. before the attack last week, there had been warnings about the vulnerability of universities and specifically people in garissa had said they wanted more security at that university saying it was in an unstable part of northeastern kenya where al shabab have launched several attacks in the last year or so, and because there were a diversity of students from different parts of the country thought it was a vulnerable target. they wanted more security there soldiers or armed please. they've made that request to the government but the security never came and of course when the university was attacked, it did prove very vulnerable indeed. students have taken to the streets to demand to have this extra security in all the insti

david, you spent years reporting from nairobi for us. you know kenya and al shabaab and the issue on the ground. this is still an active situation. we know three dormitories have been cleared. some hostages have been released but this is still a terror attack that is underway. >> reporter: that's right. and soni was reporting, the security forces are trying to corner the terrorists and gunmen. there are several of them who appear to be using automatic rifles as well as possibly grenades and suicide vests. this is a tricky scenario. as it draws out and gets longer it will create a great deal of panic in that region and potentially give al shabaab more exposure which is one of the main reasons they are doing this kind of attack. >> who are al shabaab? >> reporter: they are a group that did control big parts of somalia neighboring to kenya for several years. they were pushed back by the african union forces in heavy fighting in a contracted campaign. al shabaab has shifted from trying to create islamic state in somalia. they are becoming a

cnn's david mackenzie joins us now from nairobi, kenya.id, there were taukz that the kenya officials actually had some advanced warning that there might be an attack. how on earth can a rapid response team take hours to get transportation while people are dying? >> reporter: well, ashleigh, that's the question we're asking ourselves here on the ground. the police source said yes they had prior actionable intelligence that a university might be attacked over those days. and yet the elite squad which is tasked to take out terror situations like this was sitting in nairobi frustrated, well train with the right weapons and tactics and they couldn't get to the scene for many hours. in fact a politician who went to tour the scene got there before them. journalists driving from nairobi got to the scene before them. and in those hours, those again men were able to work with inpunty, a security analyst i spoke to said, you know, you've never going to save everyone in an instance like this but you definitely don't want all of this time elapsing to g

nairobi's construction boom is part of it.fee plants around the city have been pulled up and the land sold to developers. new properties didn't provide jobs in the long-term. nearby elizabeth is one of the farmers who is still growing it. she is 81. she says she gets a fair price and it provided her a steady income throughout most of her life. but she says many of her neighbors gave up. >> translator: sometimes the cooperative meals were not well organized. there were a few people who could help and advise so people opted out. >> reporter: back at the exchange he knows the business better than most. he's the ceo. >> price is not a problem. production is the problem. when you look at a -- the production capacity over a bush, it can go up to even above 40-kilos per bush. currently we are producing on average two-kilos. and that's our problem. >> reporter: here on the trading floor, kenyan coffee may make good money but for farmers to earn enough and keep their plants they need advice and investment. the government says it's tryi

david mckenzie, cnn, nairobi, kenya. >>> people in nairobi have been giving blood it hospital woundedn the garissa -- blood at the hospital wounded in the garissa attack. doctors said there wasn't enough blood for transfusions. >> it was not their, two die. nobody knows what can happen to you tomorrow. there are people who can help you at least if you are injured. it's better. >> i really felt bad. i felt bad -- i just wanted to be part of kenyans. >> people doing what they can to help. kenyan officials hope to get 2,000 units of blood by wednesday. >>> now to a gruesome discovery in iraq. mass graves in the city of tikrit that could contain the remains of 1,700 soldiers believed to have been executed by isis militants last june. iraqi forces liberated the city from isis less than a week ago. arwa damon was at one gravesite. we have to give a warning, images in her exclusive report are disturbing. >> reporter: the work is delicate. the kind of excavation usually reserved for historic artifacts. now put to grim use, to exhume the first bodies from tikrit's mass graves. a pause for a br

she is the east bureau chief in nairobi.i want to tell you what the red cross has been reporting and tweeting. they are talking about the attack. the red cross saying in a tweet that 30 casualties have been taken to the hospital. four are serious. a majority of the casualties have gunshot wounds. this from the u.s. embassy in nairobi, we are saddened and angered by the attack at garissa university. our deepest con dolldolencescondolences. a security team has secured the university in the process of flushing out the gunmen. robin, give us a sense of why the university may have been a target for al shabaab. >> it is very close to the border with somalia. a porous border has been proven time and time again with an attacks that would indicate al shabaab and militants or various arms of al shabaab are able to cross over with impunity. we have seen it in the attacks which occurred last year killing 70 people and the way they are able to cross over with what is obviously a lot of arms and sometimes heavy armory in terms of rocket-p

we'll be live with the latest in the capita nairobi. >>> and hoping no mercy.lea for freedom from the family of a convicted drug smuggler on death row in indonesia that's all ahead. >> part of al jazeera america's >> special month long evironmental focus fragile pl ♪ ♪ >>> hello again the top stories stories on al jazerra. the international community of the red cross hopes deliver aid to yemen later on monday after it was given permission by saudi arabia and its allies. water shortages in the city of aden where there has been intense fighting between the government forces and houthi rebels. >>> pakistan's parliament is meeting in islambad to discuss whether to send troops to join the saudi-led coalition in yemen. but that follows a formal request from the saudi king. >>> spokesman for the palestinian liberation organization says a rescue operation is continuing in syria's yarmouk refugees camp. ahmed told al jazerra two he exits have about allowed to open to allow civilian to escape. isil fighters stormed the camp on wednesday. >>> now, kenya's interior ministr

we spent two planes from nairobi to garissa.ur main focus is the recovery of the dead back to nairobi. right now, government officials on the ground have been briefed and right now the university campus -- [ inaudible ] as soon as they give us the all clear, the red cross will move in and recover any of the bodies that need to be recovered. and then organize for their transportation back to nairobi. >> i did want to ask you if there are any memorials or are families coming together? many people were killed in this and several wounded. are you seeing memorials happen? >> you know, just to give you the context. it's about 8:40 a.m. here in nairobi. so i think we're all just waking up. of course, the next couple of hours is -- what i can say is on the ground here, the public has been very united. they've really come out to support each other, and like i said earlier, we had a blood drive on site yesterday. i think yesterday we collected about 84 meters of blood. [ inaudible ] we're working very hard to make sure to reunite families

>> reporter: this evening, the e first busload of survivors arrived in nairobi from garissa, and for the families finally united with their children instead of sadness there were now tears of joy. the families also have many questions for the kenyan government. they want to know why their children were warned of a possible attack but not giveniv any additional security.s i spoke to kenya's foreign affairs minister amina mohamed who denied ignoring the warnings and said western governments had been sending them advisories of potential terrorist attacks for years but that they were seldom accurate. >> axelrod: debora patta reporting for us tonight from nairobi. debra, thank you. president obama spoke yesterday with kenya's president and assured him he is still planning to visit kenya in july when the two leaders will discuss counter-terrorism. the president also said today he expects a robust debate in congress over the preliminary deal struck with iran this week to prevent iran from developing nuclear weapons but there are those on capitol hill pushing for a say on any final agreement

university of nairobi.do not know much about the other attackers but according to a father who spoke to a radio station, he said his son blew himself up. >> soni, we know some survivors this weekend are being reunited with their families. can you give us an insight into these reunions? >> reporter: indeed, victor. yesterday, more than ten buses carrying 600 members and 50 members of staff left garissa for various parts of the country. most of the students in the garissa university were not from there and taken back take their homes and some brought to nairobi and families here in nairobi. it was a very cold and wet night. the students and staff members had such a long journey, it's about five hours' drive from garissa to nairobi and their car broke down on the way. it was raining heavily when they got to nairobi and it was so emotional for most of the families who looked for their loved ones in mortuaries and hospitals and tried to contact them and couldn't reach them. it was such a joy, so emotional to see

in nairobi expect ght the worst. following the attack by the somali armed group, the loved ones were not among those rescued or the injured in hospitals. they queue to see if sons daughters, brothers and sisters are among the dozens of bodies. one family wanted to tell the story, so we wept in to look for a 20-year-old, veronica. her mother florence found her body. the agony of identifying her own child is made worse by the death. >> translation: the children had a painful death. i can't identify my own child from her face. she has wounds all over her body. her hair is gone. i identified her by her folded toe and a scar on her thigh. >> reporter: they check and recheck before relatives are faced with a task of searching among the dead. it may take days for all the bodies to be identified. people coming out are extremely traumatized. what i saw is worse than anything i have ever seen. there's dozens of bodies on the floor. mortisheses have done their best to make them look decent. in some cases it is difficult because

suspicions. >> well, hundreds of kenya university students seem to be marching through the capital nairobi and say they need better security after what happened in garissa. >> they want compensation they say for the families of the 148 victims. they need a memorial, too and tighter security on campus. they stopped eventually outside the presidential office to hand over their demands. >>> there has been a vigil in nairobi for those who lost their lives in garissa. this is the last of three days of mourning across kenya. united nations security council say that it wants humanitarian access. most of the camp has been ruined since being occupied by the islamic state in iraq and the levant fighters since wednesday. they have considered emergency measures to get people out. there are thousands of refugees already fled, and now say that they're staying at a temporary camp. well another key battleground against isil with iraqi city tikrit. security forces have recaptured from isil after that group had taken control of it last summer. officials say that it's okay for people to go back to their home

nairobi's construction boom is part of it. a lot of coffee plants have been pulled up and the land sold to developers. the new properties don't provide jobs in the long term. had farmer is 81, she said she gets a fair price and provides a steady income throughout her life. many of her neighbors have give up. >> there were mean who could help and advise, so people opted out. >> back at the exchange they know the business better than most he's the ceo. >> production is the problem. when you look at the production capacity over a bush, if it can go up 40 40 40-kilos per bush. >> here on the trading form kenyan coffee may make good money, but for the farmers to earn enough and to keep their plans they need advice and investment. the government says it's trying to help. everyone in the business, including robert, hopes for a turn around in the coming years. millions of kenyan jobs depend on it. malcolm webb, al jazeera. nairobi. >> well, the world's first expresso machine designed for astronauts has made it safely to the internatio

an outpouring of grief in nairobi. hundreds of mourners held a vigil tuesday to remember the victims. >>> our david mckenzie was there and joins us live from nairobi with more. the people of kenya are feeling this loss very deeply. we're learning more about those who lost their lives that tragic day. talk about what people are saying to you. >> reporter: well, it's really a sense here that 47, the -- 147, the people killed, is not just a number. there's a campaign to share the details of the loved ones to see and make sure that kenyans, the world, and the kenyan government realizes that these lives are precious. the lives matter. and that they shouldn't have been cut down by there ruthless terror attack. they've carried out 147 crosses on to freedom park here in nairobi. nay laid them along here. each of the crosses -- they lead them along here. each of the crosses represents students. what does the loss mean to all the people of kenya? >> more for the families and for the whole country. we've lost. >> reporter: they'r

at garissa university last week. >> these are the first arrests so far in nairobi. hundreds of students have gathered to remember the victims of the massacre. they protested against al shab aab, which has claimed responsibility for the attack. >> we shall never forget you. that was the message from the hundreds of people who took to the streets of nairobi. they came out to honor those killed by the islamists auch about government in a massacre last week. >> 147 students i at the head of a gun. -- died at the hand of a gone. >> we cannot stand back and watch. we must cry for them. >> that number has become a symbol of support for the victims. #147 is not just a number, and has been trending on social media site. the demonstrators are also angry with the kenyan government and its security forces for not doing enough to protect the population against islamist attack. >> we want to put treasure on the government on the security issues. we are not feelings anymore. [indiscernible] they are looking for their loved ones. >> for many of those relatives collecting their love

here's duncan with the latest from nairobi. duncan: the latest on official death toll is 14, that is coming from reuters, quoting a policeman who says he has counted 14 bodies, including several police officers. we had been unable to corroborate that with the powers that be in nairobi. we've tried the interior ministry and several spokespeople. get enough of them at the moment. only has had so far today is a press statement saying there was an ongoing situation. the interior ministry has said that they have cleared three out of four dormitories and that in militants are holed up in one remaining dormitory. they have not disclosed whether hostages are being held. unofficial sources, sources speaking to local media are saying this is indeed a hostage situation with christians held or christian students held within that remained oratory -- remaining dormitory. genie: duncan out of nairobi. nuclear talks on iran under way in switzerland. diplomats worked through the night trying to come up with an outline on a deal limiting iran 's

it was a very cold and wet night in nairobi. they have gone through such a long journey, more than five hours drive to nairobi. their bus broke down on the way. one student fainted. most of them were still in their bare minimums that they were wearing when the attack happened. they were happy to be reunited. one gentleman was waiting to be reunited with his loved one. one woman was very emotional. take a listen. >> translator: i came here at 6:00 a.m. this morning and i have been waiting. i have been waiting. i was holding out hope i would see my sister. i'm very excited. god loves me. i'm very excited. i don't even have words. very happy. >> with your friends, watching bullets. thank god i made it. >> well, the government has released a picture of a most wanted man who is said to be the master mind of this attack. five people are in custody. three were caught trying to flee to somalia. they coordinated the attack and two others found within the school. one is a tanzania. another is said to be a guard in the school. he is said t

david mckenzie explains. >> reporter: they leave nairobi's morgue after learning the worst. overcome with inconsolable grief. >> 697. >> reporter: now the loved ones identified by a number. many have been waiting here for days to get word. this man grasps the photo of his son who wanted to be a teacher. he was the first in their family to go to college. >> i was very much proud of my son and the entire family was really focussing on him as our flag there. >> reporter: here they are sad but also angry as new questions are being asked about the operation to save the studenting. a police source tells cnn that kenya's anti-terror squad got the alarm early but was stuck on the tarmac in nairobi for hours, waiting for transport. this source said that even politicians got to the scene before the squad. but the government is defending their response, stressing that the team was able to save a lot of students. >> the question at the moment has been did our forces get out of nairobi quickly enough. >> reporter: but they spent hours on the tarmac waiting to go. >> there is always going

soni methu reporting for us from nairobi. soni, thank you so much. >>> now to the crisis in yemen which this week has claimed the life of a u.s. citizen. jamall alabani died this week. his cousin said he left for yemen two months ago to see his 2 1/2-year-old daughter and wife who was pregnant. he wanted to bring them home to california. >> any time they remember his name they just cry. he was pretty worried for the past three weeks. really upsetting. really sad. i even talked to other families here, they have some american relatives back in yemen and they don't know what to do. >> according to the red cross, more than 500 people have been killed in this latest conflict. >>> joining us now for more cnn global affairs analyst, lieutenant colonel james reese. lieutenant colonel, we had a conversation with major general spider marks. these are americans who are making choices. if they choose to leave, how difficult is it and is there help from the state department to get out now that the embassy has been evacuated. >> good morni

tonight, they arrived in the capital nairobi to be reunited with their parents. some still traumatized. the ordeal they had survived written on their faces. >> a friend of mine, i used to pray with him every morning, he was killed when he was going to pray. then others also shot when they were praying. >> reporter: one student had been shot twice. and you saw everything. >> i saw everything. the gunmen, i saw them. >> reporter: they were wounded. they were witnesses to mass murder. it is a national trauma, but for these survivors it's a personal horror. bill neely, nbc news, nairobi. >>> tonight there are concerns about home grown terror in this country, what appears to be a growing number of americans looking to join the terror group isis. the latest case involves a philadelphia mother of two. nbc's ron allen has our report. >> reporter: keonna thomas stood in court only her eyes visible, the 30-year-old philadelphia mother of two accused of planning to travel to turkey and then syria willing to fight and die for isis. that would be amazing, a girl can only wish

you see where it is in relation to nairobi there. the security forces are finding it difficult to get into the area itself because the militants are shooting at them from the roof within the compound. this is what we do know so far. at least 14 people are dead. two of them guards shot at the university gates. another 50 or so are wounded. there have been reports, as well, that many staff and students are still trapped inside the compound. well, the militant group, al shabaab, has said in the last hour, that it's responsible for these attacks. the kenyan interior ministry has been tweeting say that of the four hostiles three have been evacuated. the attackers are cornered and the operations are going on. well kenya's national disaster operations has also been putting out messages about the majority of those being wounded, have gunshot wounds and another tweeter says four are in critical condition and have been airlifted to nairobi. we can hear also now from an eyewitness to the attack. augustan is a student at the university. he lives

but this is the single worst terror attack since the 1998 embassy bombing here in nairobi. so this is fairly significant. >> i'm told that you've been to the town where this happened. can you tell us a little bit about it? >>reporter: the town is in the northeast of kenya. it's fairly remote. it's one of the largest towns that exists near the kenyan somali border. so perhaps one of the reasons this could be chosen is out of pure ease. the town itself is very somali-kenyan. now if you can imagine somolia and kenya simply divided lie a line making them different, however, they're still the same tribe. >> is there a sense that there will be changes in security in kenya as a result of this attack? >>reporter: we've heard that they are deploying at least 10,000 police officers. that's what we've heard. we're not sure if that's an exaggeration to garissa to try and secure it in the future. there does need to be better security. there needs to be better intelligence. the government also needs to avoid creating rifts between the muslim and christian population of kenya because real

perhaps it was supposed to be happening in nairobi or mum bassa, but because of certain embassies otherertain institutions malls et cetera have upped their security, quite considerably in the last month, given the klatter that that -- klatter chatter ash and instead it happened garissa. >> let's take a closer look at the group taking responsible. al-shabab is linked to al qaeda and is on the u.s. terror list. it wants to create an islamic state. most of the targets have been in somalia but the group as stepped up attacks in kenya in recent years including the rate of the west gate mall in nairobi which killed more than 60 people. they are protesting the presence of kenyan troops in somalia. >>> now to switzerland and another developing story. negotiators are set to speak in just a few minutes about the status of talks there and we're hearing they could issue a statement about a possible deal. james bays has the latest. >> reporter: we are hearing that we are going to get a statement pretty soon, possibly as soon as one hour from now. journalists who have been waiting here outside the ho

debora patta is in nairobi with those, and with the gut-wrenching wait for parents who still don't know if their child is dead or alive. >> reporter: this is what the aftermath of a massacre looks like the agonizing wait to identify bodies at chiromo mortuary relatives home hopefor a miracle. it seldom comes. parents who do not find their childrent morgue come here to nyayo stadium in kenya's capital, nyayo stadium. mary waits for her cousin who is studying at the university. the family last heard from him when he sent this frantic text early on thursday morning as masked dpun men forced their way on to his campus. "we have been attacked by al-shabaab," it resident. "please pray for us." they have been unable to reach him since then. >> we are worried. >> reporter: just this morning, another survivor was found at garissa and rushed to the local hospital. cynthia cheroitich hid in a cubbard listening to the sound of her friends being gunned down. she stayed there for two days drinking body lotion to stay alive. when police eventually discovered her she refused to come out. >> i said, "ho

he joins me this evening from nairobi.an't imagine what a day it was especially this being easter for all of the people and their families. what was the message from the churches today to the congregants? >> reporter: well that's right, poppy. such a tragic day and kenya is in national mourning and the congregations throughout the country were dealing with this loss any way they can. people filing into churches on easter sunday. the message was really one of peace, of course and also a message that kenya is one and will try to stop the message of violence and hate that appears to have spread to some kenyans in the wake before this attack even happened. of course for the students themselves they are being sent back to nairobi. the surviving students and emotional reunions with their parents and tragic scenes at the morgue here in nairobi with family members coming to see if they could identify their loved ones and anguished scenes as they made that awful time to actually find out that their loved one has died. so all in all

we know that at least seven people are in nairobi for critical care in nairobi and a few more could followaccording to the red kros cross, they are receiving the victims, taking them to the hospital. if they see they need referrals or feel they can be released that's what's done. so far 60 people have been reported inside the garissa county hospital. and seven of them have been referred to nairobi. and the red cross says more people could follow. the situation is still unfolding. the hostages are still with the gunmen in one of the dormitories that has not been cleared. and the police is saying they've now sent a special elite unit to deal with this situation. >> soni thank you so much for this unfolding situation. we want to go right now to the scene. joining us on the phone, is journalist dennis okari, with cnn affiliate ntv. at the university that's under attack attack. can you hear me? >> yes. >> tell us where you are at this moment? >> okay, i'm actually outside the compound of garissa university in northern kenya. just here almost an hour ago. and this is a picture from the airport a

this is nairobi.nts on the streets are demanding greater security after those al shabaab gunmen killed 147 people. after this march, a vigil is going to be held for those who were killed. >>> indonesia's attorney general says illegal processes will no longer hinder the execution of drug smugglers. the statement was made after the appeal, which challenged the president's refusal to pardon them was rejected. they were part of a group of nine caught in 2005 trying to smuggle heroin into australia. their lawyer will be making a further appeal to the constitutional courts. the attorney general says that is irrelevant. >> translator: the administer court rejected the claim. we know clemency is not an argument in the court. it is finished now. we heard they will file a judicial review to the court. that's their business. we are not affected at all. and, if they file it it won't change the decision that has already been made. we will not wait anymore and the legal process will not hinder the execution. >> ast

mo am ahead adow reports. >> reporter: this is a suburb of nairobi.dely known here as little mogadishu. over the years somali businessmen both kenyan nationals and others from somalia have set up businesses here establishing the suburb as a trading hub in the eastern african region. but the reputation as a business district has been threatened. the kenyan government has revoked the licenses of 86 individuals when & businessmen most of whom are somali. on suspicion of funding the armed group al-shabab. >> the government under the leadership of his excellence are you president kenyatta has put in to place elaborate security and administrative measures to extinguish terrorism on kenyan soil. these wide-ranging efforts include the freezing of all assets suspected to have been linked to the mastermind of the terrorist attack. >> reporter: those whose licenses were revoked include somali money transfer companies hotels and bus company that his operate between nairobi and the east part of the country. the money transfer company help million of somalis hurt b