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Kenya: At least 20 killed in suspected terrorist attack in Nairobi mall
Nairobi’s Westgate Mall. PHOTO/Westgate Premier Mall Inc.
(Reuters) – Gunmen stormed a shopping mall in Nairobi on Saturday killing at least 20 people in what Kenya’s government said could be a terrorist attack, and sending scores fleeing into shops, a cinema and onto the streets in search of safety.
Sporadic gun shots could be heard hours after the assault started as anti-terrorist police surrounded the mall and combed the building, hunting down the attackers shop by shop. Some local television stations reported hostages had been taken, but there was no official confirmation.
The Somali militant group al-Shabaab, which Kenya blames for shootings, bombings and grenade attacks against churches and the security forces, had threatened before to strike the upscale Westgate mall. The chain of attacks follows action by Kenyan forces against al-Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia two years ago.
Police helicopters circled above the mall as armed police shouted “get out! get out!” and scores of shoppers fled the building. Smoke poured out of one entrance of the high and witnesses said they heard grenade blasts.
Others said they saw about five armed assailants storm the beige stone Westgate shopping mall and that the incident appeared to be a terrorist attack.
Kenya’s Ministry of Interior said: “It is a possibility that it is an attack by terrorists, so we are treating the matter very seriously.”
Asked if foreign security services were involved in the operation to flush out the attackers, he said, “At this stage it has not become necessary yet.”
One eyewitness who identified himself as Taha said he heard the screech of brakes followed moments later by an explosion and then sustained gun fire from the ground floor.
Some shoppers ran up stairs and escalators and hid around the mall’s cinema complex. Police found another terrified group hiding in a toilet on the first floor.
The Kenyan Red Cross said at least 15 had been killed and more casualties were still inside the complex.
“The casualties are many, and that’s only what we have on the outside,” Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbas Guled said. “Inside there are even more casualties and shooting is still going on.”
The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militants have previously threatened to launch strikes on Nairobi’s tower blocks and soft targets including nightclubs and hotels in the capital. But they have so far failed to carry out such an attack.
Asked if the attack was a robbery, one paramilitary officer said: “No, terrorist”. There has, though, been no official statement from the police regarding the attackers’ motive. Police cordoned off the roads surrounding the mall in central Nairobi’s Westlands neighborhood.