Terrorist attack hotel in Nairobi, Kenya; al-Shabaab claims role

Extremists launched a deadly attack on a luxury hotel in Kenya’s capital Tuesday, sending people fleeing in panic as explosions and heavy gunfire reverberated through the complex. A police officer said he saw bodies, “but there was no time to count the dead.”

Al-Shabaab – the Somalia-based extremist group that carried out the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi that left 67 people dead – claimed responsibility and said its members were still fighting inside.

“What I have seen is terrible,” said a man who ran from the scene, Charles Njenga. “There is what looks like minced meat all over.”

It was not clear how many attackers took part, but the bloodshed appeared to fit the pattern of attacks al-Shabbab often carries out in Somalia’s capital, with an explosion followed by a group of gunmen storming the place.

The attack left blood and glass all over, and as night fell, gunfire continued more than 2 hours after the first shots were heard. Several vehicles burned, sending black smoke rising over the complex, and people were rushed, some carried, from the scene. Some ducked behind cars, screaming, while others took cover behind fountains and other features at the lush complex, which includes the DusitD2 hotel, along with bars, restaurants, banks and offices.

The attack came a day after a magistrate ruled that 3 men must stand trial on charges they were involved in the Westgate Mall siege. A 4th suspect was freed for lack of evidence.

Al-Shabaab has vowed retribution against Kenya for sending troops to Somalia since 2011. The al-Qaeda-linked group has killed hundreds of people in Kenya, which has been targeted more than any other of the 6 countries providing troops to an African Union force in Somalia.

The attack immediately reminded many Kenyans of the Westgate Mall attack, when al-Shabaab extremists burst into the luxury shopping center, hurling grenades and starting a days-long siege.