AKIPRESS.COM - At least four people were killed and scores wounded on Thursday when masked gunmen stormed a university campus near Kenya's border with Somalia, taking students hostage and exchanging fire with security forces over several hours, reports Reuters.

Police and soldiers surrounded and sealed off Garissa University College and were attempting to flush out the gunmen, the head of Kenya's police force, Joseph Boinet, said in a statement.

"The attackers shot indiscriminately while inside the university compound," he said.

A policeman at the scene said some students had been taken hostage. "We can't tell how many but they are many since the college was in session."

No group claimed responsibility for the raid, which took place just before dawn.

Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab, which has links to Al Qaeda, has in the past carried out attacks in Garissa, which lies around 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the Somali border, and in other parts of Kenya.

Most of the wounded had been hit by gunfire and four were in a critical condition, the country's National Disaster Operation Centre said on its Twitter feed. Four had been airlifted to Nairobi for treatment, it said.

"I can tell you that we have 49 casualties so far, all with bullet and (shrapnel) wounds. Four people are dead," said a doctor at Garissa hospital.