US, British and Israeli agencies are helping Kenya investigate an attack by Islamist militants on a Nairobi shopping mall that killed at least 72 people and destroyed part of the complex.
After a four-day siege, President Uhuru Kenyatta said yesterday troops had defeated the al-Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group that targeted the shopping centre popular with prosperous Kenyans and foreigners. He declared three days of mourning.
President Kenyatta says Islamist assailants defeated
The attack has highlighted the reach of the Somali al Shabaab and the capabilities of its crack unit believed to be behind the bloodshed in Westgate mall, confirming international fears that as long as Somalia remains in turmoil it will be a recruiting and training ground for militant Islam.
The militants stormed the mall, known for its Western shops selling iPads and Nike shoes, in a hail of gunfire and grenades at lunchtime Saturday. The attack ended on Tuesday when Kenyan troops detonated explosives to get through locked doors inside the mall as they searched for militants or booby traps.
“We have moved to the next phase,” Interior Minister Joseph ole Lenku told a news conference.
He said that alongside US, British and Israeli agencies, Kenya was also receiving help from Germany, Canada and the police agency Interpol in the investigation.
He said he did not expect the death toll of 61 civilians, six members of the security forces and five attackers to rise significantly, and that the only bodies still likely to be found were those of slain assailants.
Three floors collapsed after the blasts and a separate fire weakened the structure of the vaulted, marble-tiled building. Officials said the blaze arose from militants lighting mattresses as a decoy.
Kenya has said 10 to 15 attackers launched the raid. Ole Lenku said the investigation would seek to ascertain if there were any females among the assailants, as some witness accounts suggest, and would also see if the groups had rented a store in the mall prior the attack as part of their preparation.
Al Shabaab said it launched the assault to demand that Kenya withdrew its troops fighting with African peacekeepers in Somalia.
It said hostages were killed when Kenyan troops used gas to clear the mall. Officials dismissed this as “propaganda”.
Kenyatta said Kenyan forces would not leave Somalia.“We have ashamed and defeated our attackers,” he said in a TV address.
Eleven people suspected of involvement in the assault are in custody, but Kenyan officials have not said how many, if any, were gunmen taken alive and how many were been people arrested elsewhere.
It was unclear whether intelligence reports of American or British gunmen would be confirmed. Al Shabaab denied that any women took part, after British sources said the fugitive widow of one of the 2005 London suicide bombers might have some role.