Thread: Kenya mall attackers target non-Muslims

Witness: Kenya mall attackers target non-Muslims



JASON STRAZIUSO 2 hours ago

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Gunmen threw grenades and opened fire Saturday killing at least 10 people in an attack targeting non-Muslims at an upscale mall in Kenya's capital that was hosting a children's day event, witnesses said.
A local hospital was overwhelmed with the number of wounded being brought in hours after the attack, so they had to divert them to a second facility.
Elijah Kamau, who was at the mall at the time of the midday attack, said that the gunmen made a declaration that non-Muslims would be targeted.
"The gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave. They were safe, and non-Muslims would be targeted," he said.
Manish Turohit, 18, said he saw gunmen with AK-47s and vests with hand grenades on them inside the mall before he escaped to hide in a parking garage for two hours.
View gallery."

A body lies outside the Westgate Mall, an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday Sept. 21 …

"They just came in and threw a grenade. We were running and they opened fire. They were shouting and firing," he said after being marched out of the mall in line with about 15 people who held their hands in the air.
Rob Vandijk, who works at the Dutch embassy, said he was eating at a restaurant inside the mall when attackers lobbed hand grenades inside the building. He said gunfire then burst out and people screamed as they dropped to the ground.
It appears the attack began at the outdoor seating area of Artcaffe at the front of the mall, witnesses said.
Patrick Kuria, an employee at Artcaffe, said: "We started by hearing gunshots downstairs and outside. Later we heard them come inside. We took cover. Then we saw two gunmen wearing black turbans. I saw them shoot."
Some people were shot at the entrance to the mall after volleys of gunfire moved outside and a standoff with police began. Ambulances continued to stream in and out of the mall area, ferrying the wounded who were gradually emerging from hiding inside the mall.
View gallery."

A body, left, lies outside the Westgate Mall, an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday Se …

Many of those running from the mall clutched small children. Others were crying. Mall guards used shopping carts to wheel out wounded children.
Associated Press journalists at the mall said they saw at least 10 dead bodies and dozens wounded hours after the attack began. Officials did not yet give an official death toll.
"We are treating this as a terrorist attack," said police chief Benson Kibue, adding that there are likely no more than 10 attackers involved. Gunfire continued to be exchanged outside the mall, as a group of people remained in hiding inside the building.
Police did not say what group was responsible for the attack.
Somali's rebel group al-Shabab vowed in late 2011 to carry out a large-scale attack in Nairobi in retaliation for Kenya's sending of troops into Somalia to fight the Islamic insurgents.
View gallery."

A woman with her two children rescued from the mall outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya Satu …

The Westgate Mall is situated in Nairobi's affluent Westlands area and is frequented by expatriates and rich Kenyans.

http://news.yahoo.com/witness-kenya-mall-attackers-target-non-muslims-133045866.html

Death toll in Kenya attack grows to 30, official says. Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda-linked group, claims responsibility.

Police: 39 people confirmed dead in hostage standoff at Nairobi, Kenya, mall

CNN

- ‎3 minutes ago‎

(CNN) -- [Breaking news alert, 4:35 p.m. ET]. The death toll in a hostage standoff at a Nairobi mall has risen to at least 39 dead and 150 wounded, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a televised address Saturday. . .

Americans injured in deadly Kenya mall attack as Al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group claims responsibility

Published September 21, 2013FoxNews.com

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    Americans amoung injured in Kenya terror attack
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    Red Cross: 22 killed in shooting in Kenya

The Al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group al-Shabab is claiming responsibility for a deadly attack targeting non-Muslims at an upscale mall in Kenya's capital.

A statement from al-Shabab on its official Twitter feed Saturday says the attacks, which killed at least 39 and wounded 150, including American citizens, are retribution for military action by Kenya inside Somalia. The group said it was now shifting the battlefield to Kenya. Police say they are treating the assault as a "terrorist attack."

Witnesses say the gunmen asked victims they had cornered if they were Muslim: If the answer was yes, several witnesses said, those people were free to go. The non-Muslims were not.

The group said its fighters entered Nairobi's upscale Westgate Mall at around noon and were still inside more than nine hours later. Kenyan military special forces had entered the mall in an effort to end the standoff.

Officials fear the death toll could rise further. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office issued a statement confirming diplomat Annemarie Desloges died along with one other unidentified Canadian.

The statement called Desloges a distinguished public servant of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration who served in Canada's High Commission to Kenya.

France's president confirmed two French women were among the casualties.

A statement by Secretary of State John Kerry also noted a victim killed in the assault. "Although we have no reports of any Americans killed today, we have lost a member of our own State Department family: the wife of a foreign service national working for the U.S. Agency for International Development. The men and women of USAID work courageously around the world to help people striving for a better life. While we mourn with her family today, we also pledge our commitment to do whatever we can to assist in bringing the perpetrators of this abhorrent violence to justice, and to continue our efforts to improve the lives of people across the globe," the statement said.

As night fell in East Africa's commercial capital, hostages remained inside the mall, but officials didn't or couldn't say how many. Two groups of army special forces troops had moved inside as the stand-off stretched into the night hours.
Police and military surrounded the huge complex as helicopters buzzed overhead. An Associated Press reporter said he saw a wounded Kenyan soldier put into an ambulance at nightfall, an indication, perhaps, of a final shoot-out inside.

Al-Shabab claimed its fighters had killed 100 people, but the group's claims are frequently exaggerated.

"We are treating this as a terrorist attack," Benson Kibue, a police chief said.
The State Department said it had reports of American citizens injured in the attack but had no further details. It condemned "this senseless act of violence that has resulted in death and injury for many innocent men, women, and children."

The U.S. embassy said it was in contact with local authorities and offered assistance. Some British security personnel assisted in the response.

"The United States condemns in the strongest terms the despicable terrorist attack on innocent civilians today at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya," a National Security Council spokesman said in a statement.

"We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who have been killed or injured, including the American citizens who were injured and the staff of our Embassy in Kenya who were tragically affected by this attack. We also commend the courageous response by Kenyan security personnel and first responders, including the Kenyan Red Cross, who stepped forward to help their fellow citizens," the statement said.

"The perpetrators of this heinous act must be brought to justice, and we have offered our full support to the Kenyan Government to do so. We will continue to stand with the Kenyan people in their efforts to confront terrorism in all its forms, including the threat posed by al-Shabaab. This cowardly act against innocent civilians will not shake our resolve," the statement said.

The gunmen told hostages that non-Muslims would be targeted, said Elijah Kamau, who was at the mall at the time of the midday attack.

"The gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave. They were safe, and non-Muslims would be targeted," he said.

Somali's rebel group al-Shabab vowed in late 2011 to carry out a large-scale attack in Nairobi in retaliation for Kenya's sending of troops into Somalia to fight the Islamic insurgents.

"The attack at (hash)WestgateMall is just a very tiny fraction of what Muslims in Somalia experience at the hands of Kenyan invaders," al-Shabab said on its Twitter feed. Another tweet said: "For long we have waged war against the Kenyans in our land, now it's time to shift the battleground and take the war to their land (hash)Westgate."

Witnesses said at least five gunmen -- including at least one woman -- first attacked an outdoor cafe at Nairobi's Westgate Mall, a shiny, new shopping center that hosts Nike, Adidas and Bose stores. The mall's ownership is Israeli, and security experts have long said the structure made an attractive terrorist target.

Nairobi's mortuary superintendent, Sammy Nyongesa Jacob, said at least 23 bodies killed in the attack had been brought in on Saturday. He said Africans, Asians and Caucasians were among the dead.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says he lost "very close family members" in the attack carried out by "despicable perpetrators" of a cowardly act.

Kenyatta said that hundreds of people were safely evacuated from the mall. He said Kenyans courage and sympathy saved lives and reassured countless people.

He said security forces were responding to the attack. He called it a delicate operation and said a top priority was to safeguard the lives of those still being held hostage.

Terrified shoppers huddled in back hallways and prayed the militant gunmen lobbing grenades and firing assault rifles inside Nairobi's top mall Saturday would not find them. When the coast was thought to be clear, crying mothers clutching small children and blood-splattered men sprinted out of the four-story mall.

Jay Patel, who sought cover on an upper floor in the mall when shooting began, said that when he looked out of a window onto the upper parking deck of the mall he saw the gunmen with a group of people.

Patel said that as the attackers were talking, some of the people stood up and left and the others were shot.

The gunmen carried AK-47s and wore vests with hand grenades on them, said Manish Turohit, 18, who hid in a parking garage for two hours.

"They just came in and threw a grenade. We were running and they opened fire. They were shouting and firing," he said after being marched out of the mall in line with about 15 people who held their hands in the air.

Rob Vandijk, who works at the Dutch embassy, said he was eating at a restaurant inside the mall when attackers lobbed hand grenades inside the building. He said gunfire then burst out and people screamed as they dropped to the ground.

It appears the attack began at the outdoor seating area of Artcaffe at the front of the mall, witnesses said.

Patrick Kuria, an employee at Artcaffe, said: "We started by hearing gunshots downstairs and outside. Later we heard them come inside. We took cover. Then we saw two gunmen wearing black turbans. I saw them shoot."

Some people were shot at the entrance to the mall after volleys of gunfire moved outside and a standoff with police began. Ambulances continued to stream in and out of the mall area, ferrying the wounded who gradually emerged from hiding inside the mall.

People clutched their small children, and some cried. At one point in the day mall guards used shopping carts to wheel out wounded children.

A local hospital was overwhelmed with the number of wounded being brought in hours after the attack, so they had to divert them to a second facility.

The United Nations secretary-general's office said that Ban Ki-moon has spoken with President Uhuru Kenyatta and expressed his concern. British Prime Minister David Cameron also called Kenyatta and offered assistance.

Kenyan authorities said they have thwarted other large-scale attacks targeting public spaces. Kenyan police said in September 2012 they disrupted a major terrorist attack in its final stages of planning, arresting two people with explosive devices and a cache of weapons and ammunition.

Anti-terror Police Unit boss Boniface Mwaniki said vests found were similar to those used in attacks that killed 76 people in Uganda who gathered to watch the soccer World Cup finals on TV in July 2010. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for those bombings, saying the attack was in retaliation for Uganda's participation in the African Union's peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09...cmp=latestnews

Hostages forced to hide as death toll rises to 68 in terror attack on Kenya ...

Fox News

- ‎41 minutes ago‎

Dozens of hostages are holed up in an upscale shopping mall in Kenya's capital, forced to hide from gunmen following an attack by members of an Al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group on Saturday that left at least 68 dead and 175 injured. . .

Three of the attackers at Nairobi mall are from U.S.,

BREAKING NEWS

EXPLOSION, SMOKE, GUNFIRE






More gunfire heard near Kenya mall

• 62 reported dead in terror attack
• Army says it is in control
• Source: Some attackers posed as women
• 3 attackers from U.S.? FULL STORY

• Cell phone vid shows mall panic
• Survivor: 'Just lucky' | Photos
• Jihadists recruit in U.S. | Q-and-A
• Bergen: How they work

'If they found me, I'm white... so I'm dead': Survivors reveal how gunman executed non-Muslims - after asking them to name Prophet Mohammed's mother

VIDEOS AT LINK

• Survivors said they saw fellow shoppers mercilessly executed after being singled out as non-Muslim
• Shoppers said people were lined up and gunned down for failing to recite passages from the Koran
• At least 68 people killed in attack - including three Britons - at Westgate shopping centre
• Somalian terrorist group al-Shabaab - which has links to Al Qaeda - claims responsibility for attack on Saturday

By REBECCA EVANS
PUBLISHED: 03:22 EST, 22 September 2013 | UPDATED: 05:05 EST, 23 September 2013Some barricaded themselves in storerooms, while others hid in boxes or even played dead.

All were fleeing the bloody massacre unfolding around them as they saw terrified fellow shoppers mercilessly executed after being singled out as non-Muslim.
Men, women and children were lined up and then gunned down with AK-47s after failing to name the Prophet Mohammed’s mother or recite passages from the Koran – sure-fire proof they were ‘kafirs’, or non-believers.

Others fled and sought refuge in shops, bank vaults and store rooms as grenades exploded and bullets fired around them.

The fortunate ones managed to emerge blood-splattered and terrified, with the wounded pushed out in shopping trolleys.

Hannah Chisholm, 21, from Haslemere, Surrey, described the terror and confusion at the Westgate Mall, which she was visiting while on holiday.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT -- Scroll down for videos

Survivors said men, women and children were lined up and then gunned down with AK-47s after failing to name the Prophet Mohammed¿s mother
Shock: A soldier directs people up stairs inside the Westgate shopping mall. Some fled and sought refuge in shops, bank vaults and store rooms as grenades exploded and bullets fired around them

Backup: Soldiers from the Kenya Defence Force arrived to strengthen the large numbers of troops at the siege at the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya



Rescue mission: An image from AFP TV shows military forces taking position inside the shopping mall

She said: ‘We kept running to different places but the shots were getting louder so we barricaded ourselves along with about 60 others into a large storeroom.

‘There were children hiding with us as well as someone who had been shot. At that point we thought the gunmen were thieves so we assumed they wouldn’t try to reach the storeroom.’

Greg Aldous, from New Zealand, told how he hid in a box and watched a man being gunned down 30ft away from him. He said the terrorists ‘were coming in through the front, they were coming in through the back and we were just sitting ducks’.

He added: ‘These are Islamic fundamentalist nutcases. They just shot and killed anybody. They are horrible.’

He eventually escaped under the cover of darkness to a lorry-loading depot where people were panicking and screaming.

‘My instinct was to hide and I jumped into a large box containing supermarket cartons and hid there,’ he said. ‘I only survived the massacre because I kept out of sight.

‘If they had found me… I’m white, so I’m dead. They’re not even going to think twice. They hate your skin colour.’ Radio presenter Saadia Ahmed was one of the 1,000 who managed to flee. She said: ‘I witnessed a few people get up and say something in Arabic and the gunmen let them go.

‘A colleague of mine said he was Muslim and recited something in Arabic and they let him go as well.’

But she added: ‘I saw a lot of children and elderly people being shot dead. I don’t understand why you would shoot a five-year-old child.

‘They were firing at random at anyone who tried to escape.’

Tense: Kenyan paramilitary officers walk towards a small shopping arcade adjacent to the Westgate shopping mall where the fate of the hostages remained unclear on Monday morning

Lock-down: Kenya security personnel walk to their positions outside the shopping mall as the siege continued yesterday

One mother, Kamal Kaur, who had been shopping with her family, posted a string of shocking tweets about her ordeal when she got home.

‘I just washed my hair and wailed like a child. Blood in my hair. Not mine. That little boy who died right next to me… My son almost had his head blown off.

Missed by an inch. Hit wall. Bounced and killed the little boy next to him.’

Kenyan IT engineer Charles Karani, 41, said: ‘I hid under a car with my daughters, and I saw the men line up maybe 40 people and ask them who was Muslim, and if they were, to prove it by saying the name of the Prophet’s mother. Those who got it wrong were shot. There was blood everywhere.

‘Two ladies under the car with me had gunshot wounds on their legs. Other people for sure are dead. I saw four people lying, not moving.

‘A grenade was thrown and it rolled near us. My daughter said, “Papa, there’s a grenade” – but thank God it didn’t go off and I kicked it away.’

Video footage of the attack emerged last night showing terrified shoppers running for cover as gunfire is heard.

One woman, writing on Twitter under the name Shirley Ghetto, told how she was hiding under some mattresses in the mall. She wrote: ‘Is it safe to come out from hiding? It’s quiet. Please keep me updated.’

Fred Ngoga Gateretse, an official with the African Union, crouched on the floor and watched gunmen firing at shoppers and Kenyan police. ‘Believe me, these guys were good shooters,’ he said. ‘You could tell they were trained.’

Three Britons were yesterday confirmed dead.

Kenyan troops were seen carrying in at least two rocket-propelled grenades as they stormed the mall yesterday after military helicopters hovered over the mall.

Prime Minister David Cameron warned Britain to brace for 'more bad news' after the 'absolutely sickening and despicable attack of appalling brutality'.

Danger: A Kenyan police officer takes cover to prepare for the incoming fire at the Oshwal Centre adjacent to the Westgate shopping mall





Distressing: A woman holds a baby sitting with other injured people who are crying for help after gunmen went on a shooting spree in the Westgate shopping centre

Response: Soldiers take positions outside the shopping centre in Nairobi. At least 68 people have been killed after masked gunmen stormed the mall and held shoppers

Hunting down the terrorists: Soldiers from the Kenya Defence Forces arrive at the Westgate Shopping Centre in the capital Nairobi

Help: Relatives and friends of victims line up to donate blood in Nairobi, following the overwhelming numbers of casualties from the Westgate mall shooting

Security officials could not say how many people were being held captive. Kenya's Red Cross had said, citing police, that 49 people were reported missing.

Officials did not make an explicit link but that number could form the basis of the number of people held captive. Non-Muslims were specifically targeted.
The Red Cross added last night that the death toll had risen from 59 to 68 after nine more bodies were recovered in a joint rescue mission.

Somalia's Al Qaeda-linked rebel group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday in which they used grenades and assault rifles.

The attackers included some women. The Islamic extremist rebels said the attack was retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighboring Somalia.

An al-Shaabab spokesman told Channel 4 News that westerners would not be safe in Kenya until the country pulled its forces out of Somalia.

He said: 'Kenyans have blood on their hands. Anyone who is prepared to come to Kenya must be prepared to face the reality.

'We don't fear Europeans and Americans because we are not weak. And we are saying to the Europeans and the Americans who have been supporting those who have been attacking us, you should tell the Kenyans to stop their aggression if you want to be safe.'

Al-Shabab said on its new Twitter feed - after its previous one was shut on Saturday - that Kenyan officials were asking the hostage-takers to negotiate.
‘We'll not negotiate with the Kenyan govt as long as its forces are invading our country, so reap the bitter fruits of your harvest,’ al-Shabab tweeted.

Ordeal: People come out from hiding under a car next to bodies in a car park as police search for the armed radicals

Led to safety: An image grab taken from AFP TV shows civilians being evacuated from the mallWitness describes close encounter with Nairobi mall gunmen



Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta - who has lost relatives in the attack - reiterated his government's determination to continue fighting al-Shabab.

‘We... went into Somalia to help stabilise the country and most importantly to fight terror that had been unleashed on Kenya and the world,’ he said.

‘We shall not relent on the war on terror.’ He said although this violent attack had succeeded, the Kenyan security forces had ‘neutralised’ many others.

Earlier in the day, 51-year-old Mr Kenyatta - who was elected five months ago - said he his nephew and his nephew's fiancee were killed in the attack.

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said a number of people were being held hostage on the third floor and the basement area of the mall.

This includes Nike, Adidas and Bose stores. Kenyan security officials sought to reassure families of hostages inside but implied that hostages could die.

The security operation is ‘delicate’ because Kenyan forces hoped the hostages were evacuated safely, said Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku.

‘The priority is to save as many lives as possible,’ Mr Lenku said, adding that more than 1,000 people escaped the attack inside the mall yesterday.

‘We have received a lot of messages from friendly countries, but for now it remains our operation,’ Mr Lenku said.

More than 175 people were injured in the attack, he added, including many children. Kenyan forces were in control of the mall's security cameras.

This afternoon brief volleys of gunfire were heard and officials told TV reporters that they could soon be asked to move further back from the mall.

An Associated Press reporter, positioned less than 350 yards from Westgate, tweeted that a huge blast went off inside it.

Siege: People look at the Westgate shopping mall in the distance where hostages are being held for the second day

Escape: This family, who had been trapped inside the shopping centre, support each other as they escape from the scene

Jason Straziuso said: 'I'm 300 meters from mall when blast went off. Eery silence afterward. One short gunfire burst.

'That last big blast far larger than any explosion I'm last 30 hours. No idea what caused it.'

Mr Cameron said: 'It is an absolutely sickening and despicable attack of appalling brutality.'

As the massacre unfolded witnesses described terrifying scenes in which men, women and children of all ages and nationalities were brutally cut down.

The mall, a popular haunt for rich Kenyans and expats, was dotted with bodies lying in pools of blood.

Some victims were shot dead as they sat in their cars, while others have been left with horrific injuries.

Mr Kenyatta has pledged to hunt down and punish the terrorists behind the brutal attack in upmarket Nairobi, in which a further 150 people were injured.

At least three Britons killed in Kenya attack: PM




Horror: Shoppers hurry down an escalator with their hands in the air as they make their way out of the shopping centre to safety

Army: Soldiers were drafted in to help police tackle the gunmen - terrorists from the Somali al-Shabaab organisation, which has links to al-Qaeda
Shootout: Soldiers and armed police fire at the suspected terrorists as they try to wrest back control of the shopping centre

In a national televised address he said that his nephew and his nephew's fiancée, whom he 'knew and loved', were both killed by the radicals.

Somali-based militant group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the outrage at the mall in the affluent Westlands district of the capital.

'The priority is to save as many lives as possible'
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku

A Foreign Office spokesman said that three British nationals are confirmed dead and that the next of kin of those nationals have been informed.

The Government’s crisis committee (COBR), chaired by Foreign Secretary William Hague, met yesterday to discuss the incident.

The Labour Party conference in Brighton paused for a minute's silence as news of the deaths filtered through, with Ed Miliband among those reflecting.

He said: 'This is an appalling attack which has left three British citizens and many others dead. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the others caught up in this dreadful atrocity.

'Those who carried out this attack will be condemned across the globe. The cold-blooded killing of innocent women, children and men is as despicable as it is shocking.'

Desperation: A crowd of people hold their arms out to catch a Kenyan woman as she jumps out from the air vent where she had been hiding from the gunmen

Emergency: A Red Cross assistant helps a child outside who was among those caught in the shooting
Killings: The fate of the hostages remained unclear this morning despite earlier statements from police saying most of those held had been rescued

Desperation: An injured woman, whose face and clothes are drenched in blood, lies on the ground outside the shopping mall screaming for help

Escape: Women carrying children run for safety after al Shabaab terrorists stormed Westgate shopping center in Nairobi, Kenya armed with guns and grenades

Spree: Shots are still being heard in the mall as police and terrorists engage in a stand-off

Mr Cameron told the BBC: 'Our thoughts are also with the Kenyan government and people at this time. These appalling attacks that take place, where the perpetrators do it in the name of a religion.. they don't.

'They do it in the name of terror, violence, extremism and their warped view of the world. They don't represent Islam or Muslims in Britain or anywhere else in the world. We've offered the Kenyans help in terms of policing and advice and intelligence collaboration.'

Two Canadians, including diplomat Annemarie Desloges, and two French women have been confirmed as being among the dead, along with renowned Ghanaian poet and statesman Kofi Awoonor.

The US State Department also said four American citizens were reported injured.
In his address yesterday Mr Kenyatta said: 'I want every bereaved family to know that I and indeed all of us mourn with them. No-one should lose their life so needlessly, so senselessly.

They shall not get away with their despicable and beastly acts. We will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully.


Hands up: Hostages of all nationalities head for the exit with their arms raised to show they are not carrying any weapons

Location: The attack took place in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya





Tragic: Annemarie Desloges, a Canadian diplomat seen here with her husband Robert Munk, was killed in the atrocity


'We need to work together to fight the terrorist battle not just here in Kenya. This is not a Kenyan war, this is an international war and we need to join hands and work together to see it effectively destroyed.'

Jonathan Maungo, a private security guard, told Reuters: 'They entered through blood, that's how they'll leave.'

It's understood that security officials are probing the possible involvement of the fugitive ‘white widow’ of 7/7 London bomber Germaine Lindsay, Samantha Lewthwaite - a key Al Shabaab bomb-maker and fundraiser.

The BBC's Anne Soy said: 'This is an upmarket shopping mall - it's one of the more exclusive ones in Nairobi. It often attracts foreigners and wealthy Kenyans, many of them of Indian descent. This is a situation which is cutting across race, tribes and nationalities.'

Terrified shoppers told of how they huddled in back hallways and prayed they would not be found by the militants.

When the way appeared clear, crying mothers clutching small children and blood-splattered men sprinted out of the four-storey mall.

At one burger restaurant, a man and woman lay in a final embrace after they had been killed, before their bodies were removed. Pop music was left playing.gue condemns 'callous and cowardly' terrorist attack in Kenya



Members of the Indian community pay their respects at the cremation ceremony of Nehal Vekaria, a 16-year-old female student who was killed during the shooting spree

Helping the injured: Bags of blood are seen on a table after Kenyans come in large numbers to donate blood for the victims of the attack

Helping out: British High Commissioner to Kenya, Christian Turner (left) lies on a bed after donating blood, following the overwhelming numbers of casualties from the shootingHundreds of Kenyans donate blood for Nairobi victims



Scramble: People crawl on their stomachs to safety as security forces keep a lookout at the Nairobi mall on Saturday

Witness Elijah Kamau said the gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted, as they began their attack.

The gunmen threw grenades and then opened fire, sending shoppers and staff fleeing for their lives.

Brit Amita Sharma yesterday spoke of her fear for family and friends after hearing they had been caught up in the Nairobi shopping centre siege.

The 41-year-old, from Slough, had been visiting relatives in the Kenyan capital just two weeks ago and said she was stunned by news of the attack at the Westgate Mall.

The events manager said: 'We've spoken to a family friend who hid in the mall's supermarket for three hours.

'Staff tried to protect all the customers in the shop by closing all the shutters to stop the attackers getting in.

'It must have been terrifying for them all. My friend said she could hear all the gunshots and shouting going on outside.

'Thankfully she was unharmed but she is still very shaken by what has happened.'

Eyewitness Fred Ngoga Gateretse, an official with the African Union, told The New York Times: 'Believe me, these guys were good shooters. You could tell they were trained.'

Charles Karani, 41, an IT engineer, said: ‘I hid under a car with my daughters, and I saw the men line up maybe 40 people and ask them who was Muslim, and if they were to prove it by saying the name of the Prophet’s mother. Those who got it wrong were shot.

‘There was blood everywhere. Two ladies under the car with me had gunshot wounds on their legs.

‘Another Indian gentlemen was hit in the face by a bullet but he seemed not to be gravely hurt. Other people for sure are dead. I saw four people lying, not moving.


Fleeing: A child runs to safety across the shopping mall

Wounded: A Kenyan policeman sits clutching his stomach alongside his rifle while a colleague exchanges fire with the terrorists

Scared: Clearly distressed, this family join hands as they make their way out of the building. Bullet wounds can be seen in the glass behind them

Cat and mouse: A security officer points out the location of where some of the terrorists may be hiding to his colleagues, all three of whom have their pistols at the ready

Protection: A mother and her children lie on the floor as they attempt to hide while the gunmen armed with automatic weapons go on the rampage


Terrified: A young girl in tears is led away form the terror by a police officer
Terror: Armed police guide a woman carrying a child to safety at Westgate Shopping Centre

'A grenade was thrown and it rolled near us, my daughter said, “Papa, there’s a grenade” – but thank God it didn’t go off and I kicked it away.’

The gunmen wore white bandanas, Mr Karani said, and appeared to work in teams, each taking control of a different floor of the five-storey building.

He also said officials had confirmed to him that the attacker they arrested was a Kenyan Muslim convert.

Nahashon Mwangi was at work when he received a desperate telephone call from his son, pleading with him to rescue him from imminent death.

'Dad, I have been shot in the neck and hand. I am bleeding. Come and help me please,' his 21-year-old son said.

'It took me about an hour to access the area,' Mwangi said. 'I was crying and pleading with the police to save my son. I remember shouting like a kid, crying and crying but they wouldn't let me through.'

Relief finally came five hours later, when his injured son was among a group of people located and evacuated by security forces who were sweeping the mall shop by shop.

He was rushed to Nairobi's Aga Khan University Hospital and was undergoing emergency surgery.

'I pray that he will be OK,' the shocked father said. 'Why would these people do this to us?'

Another victim, mall worker Zipporah Wanjiru, emerged from the ordeal alive but in a state of total shock.

'They were speaking some language I could not understand,' she said of the attackers. 'I could not understand anything - but the sound of their voices was scary.'

Many of the injured have been taken to Kenyatta National Hospital, at which a fire broke out this morning, according to reports. The blaze is said to have erupted in the baby unit, with those being cared for evacuated to safety.

To add to the chaos so many people gathered to watch the shocking drama develop that police had to use tear gas to disperse them, according to aWashington Post writer.

Speaking from Nairobi, Daniel Howden, reporter for The Independent, told The BBC that a ‘massive operation’ was still ongoing inside the mall this morning where the gang continued to hold an unknown number of people hostage.Islamist gunmen holed up with hostages in Nairobi siege



Tweets purporting to be from Al-Shabaab's official Twitter handle have appeared that describe the attack and state some of the group's grievances.
The group opposes Kenya's participation in a peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

One post that there will be ‘no negotiations whatsoever’. It said it had previously warned the Kenyan government that, if they did not remove military forces from Somalia, there would be ‘severe consequences’. Another continued this theme: 'We'll not negotiate with the Kenyan govt as long as its forces are invading our country, so reap the bitter fruits of your harvest.'

It also tweeted: ‘For long we have waged war against the Kenyans in our land, now it's time to shift the battleground and take the war to their land,’

Another tweet said: 'Kenyans will not appreciate the gravity of the situation without seeing, feeling and experiencing death in all its ghoulish detail.'
This morning a message was posted that read: 'A 14-hour standoff relayed in 1400 rounds of bullets and 140 characters of vengeance and still ongoing. Good morning Kenya!'

It added that they were ‘still inside the mall, fighting the Kenyan kuffar inside their own turf’ and proclaimed: 'When justice is denied, it must be enforced. Kenyans were relatively safe in their cities before they invaded us & killed Muslims.'

The organisation claimed it had killed more than 100 Kenyan ‘kuffar’, a derogatory term used to describe non-Muslims.


Updates: It has been claimed that the terrorists were tweeting updates about their attack from the scene


Witnesses recount Nairobi massacre









Safety: Shoppers and shop assistants raise their hands as they are escorted out by armed police

Children: A soldier carries one of the survivors to safety as armed police hunt for the gunmen


Hunt: Armed police search customers taking cover inside a bathroom at the shopping centre



Gunfight: Police are still trying to escort people away from the site where fighting continues


Hostages: Police say armed men are still in the building and are holding prisoners




Deadly: Armed police search Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi for the last remaining gunmen
Search: Police scour the centre with guns to try and locate the terrorists still holding hostages

Shattered glass: A police officer tries to secure an area inside the Westgate Shopping Centre where gunmen went on a shooting spree in Nairobi





Special forces: The army and elite squads have been drafted in to help police flush out the gunmen

Shootout: A police officer takes up position at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi



Rescue: A policeman carries a baby to safety on the barrel of his gun while a woman ducks for safety behind him



Stand-off: Soldiers are still searching in and around the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi after the supposed terrorist attack

Nairobi's mortuary superintendent, Sammy Nyongesa Jacob, said Africans, Asians and Caucasians were among the bodies brought in following the attack.
Speaking from his country residence Chevening, in Kent, William Hague said there had been a claim of responsibility from al-Shabaab but ‘that doesn't mean we know for certain who has done or is doing this.
‘I think what we do know for certain and what we can say in the United Kingdom for certain is that all of our work and the work of Kenya and other countries neighbouring Somalia to bring stability to Somalia, to defeat terrorism there, will continue.
‘It will never be deterred or prevented by actions of this kind. I know that will be the view of the Kenyan government and the people of Kenya as well.’
He said al-Shabaab had brought ‘terror and great difficulty to Somalia’ and the UK had done a lot of work to tackle the problems in Somalia.
‘It is too early to know for sure who carried out this attack. It is an attack that, as we speak, as far as we know is still continuing so we can't give any further details.’

Wounded: A security officer helps an injured woman away from the building



Injured: A security officer talks to his colleagues shortly after being helped from the scene having been wounded
Critical: A victim is wheeled into the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi for emergency treatment

Rescue: A woman is shipped to an ambulance in a shopping trolley by centre staff


Devastating: Injured people receive assistance from bypassers at the scene of the shooting



Family mall: Customers who had planned a Saturday of shopping were forced to run following a shootout between unidentified armed men and the police




He added: ‘These are large numbers of entirely innocent people, that's why I say it is a particularly callous and cowardly and brutal attack.
‘Sadly significant numbers have been killed. So again I say that the thoughts of the UK are with the people of Kenya at this terrible moment.’
The Foreign Secretary added: ‘Our High Commission staff in Nairobi are working very hard, visiting hospitals, trying to make sure that they are aware of British nationals who might have been in the area or caught up in this.
‘We are sending a rapid deployment team to reinforce that work, which will be particularly important if the situation carries on. We have offered the Kenyan authorities any other assistance and of course we will keep in touch with them about that.’


Relatives of Kenyan president among dead in shopping mall attack







A Downing Street spokesman said David Cameron had spoken to Mr Kenyatta and passed on his ‘sincere condolences’.
Kenya has seen a rise in terror attacks and threats in recent years, some of which are believed to be in retaliation for a military crackdown on al-Shabaab.
The attacks often involve gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades, and their targets include bars, nightclubs and restaurants in various parts of the country.

Escape: An injured man who managed to flee the attackers is treated by paramedics outside the shopping centre


There was a suspected al-Shabaab attack which left five dead and three injured at a restaurant in the eastern city of Garissa in January, and in August last year one person was killed and six more were left injured in the Eastleigh area of Nairobi on the eve of a visit by Hillary Clinton, then the United States secretary of state.

Last month 18 US embassies and consulates across the Middle East and Africa were closed after a message between al Qaida officials about plans for a major terror attack was intercepted.
The assault was the biggest single attack in Kenya since al Qaeda's East Africa cell bombed the US Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, killing more than 200 people. In 2002, the same militant cell attacked an Israeli-owned hotel on the coast and tried to shoot down an Israeli jet in a coordinated strike.


Victim: Rescuers attempt to evacuate a man injured in the shooting



The chairwoman of the Commission of the African Union, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, condemned the attack in the ‘strongest possible terms’ and said it underlines ‘the imperative for renewed and reinvigorated efforts to combat terrorism throughout the continent’.

Concerned British nationals are advised to monitor Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) travel advice and to contact 020 7008 0000.


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