The government reports that a major
operation has freed most of the hostages at the shopping mall in
Nairobi, where a terrorist attack left at least 68 dead
An angry crowd of bystanders
appeals to Kenyan police outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. Some
outside the mall were angry over how long the police and military
operation was taking.
"Why can't the police and army just go in and shoot these people?" one
man said.
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NAIROBI, Kenya — Security
forces launched what they called a final assault late Sunday against
Somali militants holed up in a high-end shopping mall, claiming they had
freed most of the hostages being held by the gunmen and seized control
of much of the building.
Military and police
helicopters circled low over the multi-story Westgate Mall and gunfire
rang out throughout the day. As darkness fell, beginning the second
night of the siege, a large explosion shook the area.
The Kenya National Disaster Operation Center said a major operation
was unfolding to end the terrorist attack that killed at least 68 people
and injured 175.
"This will end tonight," it declared. "Our forces will prevail. Kenyans are standing against aggression and we will win."
A military spokesman reported on Twitter that by 11 p.m., "most of
the hostages have been rescued and security forces have taken control of
most parts of the building." But officials did not say how many
hostages had been freed, and offered little information about their
condition. They also did not detail the fate of the captors. The
military spokesman told the
BBC late Sunday that perhaps 10 hostages were still being held.
As the night wore on, no gunfire could be heard from outside the
mall. The spokesman said on Twitter that four Kenyan soldiers had been
wounded.
"All efforts are underway to bring this matter to a speedy conclusion," the spokesman said.
Among the dead were three Britons, two French, two Canadians, a
Chinese citizen, a Dutch citizen and renowned Ghanaian poet Kofi
Awoonor. U.S. officials said a number of Americans were at the mall at
the time of the attack, and four were wounded.
President Uhuru Kenyatta told reporters that his nephew and his nephew's fiancee were both killed in the Westgate Mall.
"These are young, lovely people who I personally knew and loved," he
said. "No one should lose their lives so needlessly and so senselessly
and no family should have to receive news that their loved one has been
killed by a criminal bunch of cowards."
But he said it was remarkable that 1,000 people got out alive.
Several people managed to escape Sunday, including one who had hidden
under a car in the basement, and another who lay concealed under
supermarket shopping trolleys.
The assault, which began around noon Saturday, was carried out by
between 10 and 15 attackers, by some estimates. It left Kenyans dazed
and fearful of future attacks. But they expressed unity on social media
networks, tweeting under the hashtag #WeAreOne. Hundreds of people lined
up, some for hours, to give blood. Many others donated money for the
victims.
An unnamed spokesman for the Shabab, the militant group that claimed
responsibility for the attack, told Britain's Channel 4 that the mall
was singled out to inflict maximum pain for Kenyans and to gain maximum
attention. The group said the attack was in revenge for Kenya's 2011
invasion of Somalia that was aimed at controlling the Islamic militants.
The Shabab, which is linked to
Al Qaeda,
warned foreigners to stay out of Kenya, calling it a war zone. "For us,
anywhere in Kenya is the same. We will hit them wherever we can," the
group's spokesman said.
Twitter accounts attributed to the Shabab were closed Saturday. A new
account launched Sunday reported that the attackers included a number
of Americans. However, analysts said they could not verify the account. A
senior
State Department official said the U.S. government could not confirm that Americans were involved, and was seeking more information.
The weekend attack is likely to have a devastating effect on Kenya's
tourism industry, further damaging an economy that has weathered
successive blows caused by terrorist attacks, kidnappings of Westerners
and postelection violence in 2007 and 2008.
In a sign of how worried Kenyan authorities are about the potential
blow to tourism, Kenyatta urged Western governments not to issue travel
warnings advising people to avoid his country.
Some Kenyans were frustrated that security forces did not launch an
assault sooner. Kenyatta had urged patience, saying the priority was to
save hostages' lives.
One onlooker outside the mall, student James Mwangi, 19, said he
would not leave until the operation was over, because he was desperately
waiting for news about relatives stuck inside
