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Kenya will not pull troops out of Somalia until security is restored, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Monday (July 2nd), a day after 17 people died in the deadliest attacks Kenya has seen in a decade.

Speaking in Garissa, where masked gunmen on Sunday hurled grenades into two churches before firing bullets into the congregation, Odinga offered a defiant message to the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab movement, which he blamed for the attack.

"Surrender is not an option for us, because if we leave Somalia, anarchy will set in which will spill over the borders," Odinga said, according to AFP.

"Kenya will stand together even as al-Shabaab acts in desperation… Al-Shabaab are reacting to the progress made by our forces in Somalia," he said. "We shall stand united and in solidarity."

The Kenya Red Cross put the death toll of Sunday's attacks at 17 and said at least 40 were injured, including seven who remain in critical condition. Three of the most severely injured were air lifted to Nairobi for treatment.

Three children were reported to be among the dead.

Al-Shabaab have not claimed responsibility for the attack, although the pro-al-Shabaab Twitter site Al-Kataib boasted of a "successful operation in Garissa".

Provincial Commissioner James ole Serian said Kenyan police pledged to step up security in North Eastern Province following the attacks.

Security operations have been launched in Garissa, Wajir and Mandera, and a meeting between local leaders in Garissa is planned for the coming week, Kenya's Daily Nation reported on Sunday.

Serian allayed resident's fears of subsequent attacks. "The town is calm and there is no tension," he said Sunday night.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said police were planning on Monday a major security operation to apprehend the perpetrators and reclaim weapons used in the attack, which the gunmen stole from security officers at the churches after killing them.

Security at churches in Mombasa will also be increased, with worshippers undergoing searches before entering, Coast Provincial Police Officer Aggrey Adoli told Kenya's The Standard on Sunday.

"We have deployed security officers in churches, particularly on Sunday, and there should be no cause for alarm," he said.

The Vatican called the attacks "horrible and very worrying".

"The cowardice of the violence against helpless people gathered peacefully for prayer is unspeakable," spokesman Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio.

Prominent Muslim figures in Kenya also condemned the attacks, and called for swift justice for the perpetrators.

"Any place of worship has to be respected by all," said chairman of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims Abdulghafur El-Busaidy, according to Kenya's The Standard. "Islam and Muslims dissociate themselves from such criminal activities and relevant state security agencies must move with speed to apprehend the criminals."

Director General of the Association of Muslim Organisations in Kenya Fazul Mohamed also repudiated the attacks, which he said demonstrate the moral bankruptcy of the perpetrators.

"If it emerges that people of Muslim faith have undertaken the attacks, then they should be treated as criminals and not [as] Muslims," he said. "A criminal is just a criminal. Islam does not teach anyone to kill innocent civilians."

Mohamed called on religious leaders to speak out against terrorist attacks and to protect youth from being drawn into groups that resort to terrorism and violence.

"We should protect our youth from being recruited into groups that twist teachings of religion to commit criminal acts," he said. "That only serves to soil the good name of religion."