Kenyan authorities are holding eight people in connection with an attack by Islamist militants on a Nairobi shopping mall and have released three others after the assault that killed 67 civilians and soldiers, the Interior Minister said yesterday.
Somali Islamist group al Shabaab suggested Saturday’s attack, followed by a four-day siege, would be followed by other actions by its ‘warriors’.
Al Shabaab said it launched the attack to demand Kenya withdraw its troops from Somalia, where forces deployed in 2011 to strike at the group that Nairobi blamed for attacks and kidnappings in Kenya’s northern area and coastline. President Uhuru Kenyatta has said Kenya will not withdraw.
The attack on Westgate mall confirmed Western and regional fears about al Shabaab’s ability to strike beyond Somalia’s borders.
It also dented Kenya’s vital tourism industry, although the finance minister said it would not have a long-term impact.
“Police are holding eight suspects as they seek to unmask the face behind the terror attack. Three others were interrogated and released,” Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku told a news briefing.
He said suspects were being held under anti-terrorism laws meaning they could be held “for longer periods before being arraigned in court,” although he did not give details.
Ole Lenku said investigators trying to determine the identity of the attackers were searching through the rubble of the mall where three floors collapsed after a series of blasts and a huge blaze. He said they were making “good progress”.
Kenyan and Western officials have said they cannot confirm speculation that Briton Samantha Lewthwaite, widow of one of the 2005 London suicide bombers, had a role in the mall attack.
Some survivors said they saw an armed white woman.
Kenya requested a “red alert” wanted notice issued by Interpol for Lewthwaite, dubbed the “White Widow” by the British media, but said she was wanted in connection with a previous 2011 plot that was also linked by police to al Shabaab.
The Somali group, which taunted Kenya during the mall raid when its militants were still holding out, issued a new threat.
“The mesmeric performance by the Westgate Warriors was undoubtedly gripping, but despair not folks, that was just the première of Act 1,” the group said on Twitter via @HSM_PR, a handle it often changes as its accounts are regularly suspended.
Ole Lenku repeated Kenya’s determination not to withdraw from Somalia, and said that it was a mission of “national security”.
He added: “That threat has not been eliminated and it has not changed our position. It has been very clear that we will continue to take action on that front until our security and interests in the country are protected”