NAIROBI, Kenya — The deadly siege at a mall in Nairobi continued
Sunday, as the Kenyan government struggled with the question of
whether to storm the Shabab militant attackers still holed up inside
or keep trying to free people trapped inside after more than 24 hours.“I am aware that many have expressed impatience over the pace at which
the situation is unfolding,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said in an
address to the nation on Sunday, “and while I empathize with your
anxiety at seeing the matter concluded as quickly as possible, I ask
also for understanding.”
Mr. Kenyatta said that more than 1,000 people had been rescued from
the mall at the time of the attack, calling it “remarkable and
encouraging.” But the death toll from the militant assault on the
crowded Westgate mall the day before continued to rise, climbing to
59. Among them were Mr. Kenyatta’s nephew and his fiancée, he said in
his speech.
“These are young, lovely people I personally knew and loved. Many of
us have lost loved ones,” Mr. Kenyatta said. “Let us mourn them all as
one nation and keep them always in remembrance and prayer.”
Joseph Ole Lenku, the cabinet secretary for the interior, said on
Sunday that the number of wounded had risen to 175, though many had
been treated and discharged. “Overnight more people were evacuated
from the mall, but a number still remain,” he said. “The government
will go out of its way to make sure we do not lose lives.”
A huge contingent of Kenyan security forces kept the mall cordoned off
Sunday, but officials confirmed that many attackers — between 10 and
15, according to Mr. Lenku — were still inside and active, and that an
uncertain number of bystanders remained trapped or in hiding.
The prospect of more violence was tangible, even as a deeply shaken
public began to come to grips with the toll already inflicted.
The identities of several victims began to come out Sunday, and with
it the public mourning of a national tragedy had begun. The local news
media reported that a popular radio host was among those killed, as
was an elderly poet and professor from Ghana.
The radio host, Ruhila Adatia-Sood, was in the parking lot of the
Westgate mall where she was hosting a cooking competition, according
to reports. She had posted several photos on her Instagram account
before the attack.
Also among the dead was Kofi Awoonor, 78, a Ghanaian poet and former
professor at the University of Ghana. He was also the former chairman
of the Council of State.
As the morning wore on helicopters continued to circle above the mall
and the sound of intermittent gunfire crackled. Medical personnel
loaded a wounded member of the security forces dressed in camouflage
into an ambulance in the garage of a nearby community complex.
The mall, called Westgate, is a symbol of Kenya’s rising prosperity,
an impressive five-story building where Kenyans can buy expensive cups
of frozen yogurt and plates of sushi. On Saturdays, it is especially
crowded, and American officials have long warned that Nairobi’s malls
were ripe targets for terrorists.
Fred Ngoga Gateretse, an official with the African Union, was having
coffee at the ArtCaffe coffee shop on the ground floor around noon on
Saturday when he heard two deafening blasts. He cowered on the floor
and watched eight gunmen with scarves twisted over their faces firing
at shoppers and then up at Kenyan police officers who were shooting
down from a balcony as panicked shoppers dashed for cover. “Believe
me, these guys were good shooters,” Mr. Gateretse said. “You could
tell they were trained.”
Even as the fight continued into Sunday afternoon, with the attackers
contained to the mall’s third floor, the Kenyan news media reported
that one wounded gunman had been captured and died in a hospital.
Several witnesses also said one of the attackers was a woman.
Several witnesses said the attackers had shouted for Muslims to run
away while they picked off other shoppers, executing them one by one.
The mall, one of Nairobi’s most luxurious, with glass elevators and
some of the most expensive shops in town, is also popular with
expatriates. It has served as the place for a power lunch, to catch a
movie, to bring children for ice cream.
Four Americans were believed to have been injured in the attack,
American officials said, and none were reported killed. Secretary of
State John Kerry, who called the attack “a heartbreaking reminder that
there exists unspeakable evil in our world,” said the wife of a local
employee of the American government was among the dead. Two Canadians,
one of them a diplomat based in Nairobi, and two French citizens were
killed, their governments said.
Ilana Stein, a spokeswoman for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
said the attack initially took place near the ArtCaffe, an
Israeli-owned coffee shop and bakery popular with foreigners that is
one of 80 businesses in the mall. Ms. Stein said that one Israeli had
been lightly injured, that three others had escaped unharmed and that
Israelis had not been specifically targeted. “This time, the story is
not about Israel,” Ms. Stein said.
On Sunday, Israeli officials denied reports that the country’s
security services had gotten involved in the standoff in Nairobi. But
a report on the news site Ynet cited a senior Israeli security source
as saying that Israeli “consultants” had been helping the Kenyans
“formulate a negotiation strategy to resolve the crisis.”
A confidential United Nations security report on Saturday described
the mall attack as “a complex, two-pronged assault” with two squads of
gunmen dashing into the mall from different floors at the same time
and opening fire.
The Shabab, an Islamist militant group based in Somalia, took
responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for Kenya’s
military operations in Somalia, which began nearly two years ago.
“Kenya will not get peace unless they pull their military out of
Somalia,” said Ali Mohamoud Rage, the Shabab’s spokesman, in a radio
address. The Shabab also sent out a barrage of buoyant Twitter
messages, bragging about the prowess of their fighters before Twitter
abruptly suspended the account late Saturday. Later, a new one was set
up.
Mr. Kenyatta called the terrorists cowards and said Kenya would remain
“as brave and invincible as the lions on our coat of arms.” He also
sounded a somber note, pleading with Kenyans to give blood, and said
he had lost “very close family members in this attack,” though he did
not specify further.
Witnesses described attackers using AK-47 and G-3 assault rifles and
throwing grenades.
Vivian Atieno, 26, who works on the first floor of the mall, described
“intense shooting,” starting around 11 a.m., before she escaped
through a fire exit.
Haron Mwachia, 20, a cleaner at the mall, said he had survived by
climbing over a wall. “I heard several gunshots and managed to run
away,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Hundreds of relatives and friends of the victims of the attack
journeyed to various hospitals around the city that were treating the
wounded, trying to ascertain the fate of their loved ones. – The New
York Times via Google News
