Mr Ben Mulwa a Westgate siege survivor on September 22, 2013 shortly
after he was rescued by Kenya security agents. At least 59 people have
died so far after gunmen attacked a city shopping mall on September 21,
2013. PHOTO/ WILLIAM OERI
Kenyan troops backed by Israeli forces
battled Sunday to end a siege in an upmarket shopping mall and free
hostages held by Somali militants in an attack that has so far killed 59
people.
Sporadic gunfire could be heard as Kenyan
security officials said they were attempting to kill or capture the
remaining attackers and end the 26-hour-long bloodbath at the Westgate
mall.
"The Israelis have just entered and they are
rescuing the hostages and the injured," a Kenyan security source told
AFP. The Israeli foreign ministry refused to confirm or deny its forces
were involved.
Somalia's Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab
rebels said the carnage at the part Israeli-owned complex was in
retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia, where African
Union troops are battling the Islamists.
Interior
Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said 59 people were confirmed dead, while the
Red Cross has estimated the number of injured at around 200.
Lenku
said there were still between 10 to 15 gunmen in the shopping centre.
"We believe there are some innocent people in the building, that is why
the operation is delicate."
Kenyan President Uhuru
Kenyatta had said in a televised address to the nation late Saturday
that he had lost family members in the attack.
"Let me
make it clear. We shall hunt down the perpetrators wherever they run to.
We shall get them. We shall punish them for this heinous crime," he
vowed.
The Westgate mall is popular with wealthy
Kenyans and expatriates, and was packed with around 1,000 shoppers when
the gunmen marched in at midday Saturday, tossed grenades and sprayed
automatic gunfire at terrified people.
Security agencies have long feared that the shopping centre could be targeted by Al Qaeda-linked groups.
The attack was the worst in Nairobi since an Al-Qaeda bombing at the US embassy killed more than 200 people in 1998.
After
a day and night of sometimes ferocious gun battles, security sources
said police and soldiers had finally "pinned down" the gunmen. The
Kenyan Red Cross appealed for blood donations and authorities urged
residents to steer clear of the area.
"We are still
battling with the attackers and our forces have managed to maroon the
attackers on one of the floors," said Kenyan military spokesman Colonel
Cyrus Oguna. "We hope to bring this to an end today."
-- Playing dead --
One teenage survivor recounted to AFP how he played dead to avoid being killed.
"I
heard screams and gunshots all over the place. I got scared. I tried to
run down the stairs and saw someone running towards the top, I ran back
and hid behind one of the cars," 18-year-old Umar Ahmed said.
In
the hours after the attack began, shocked people of all ages and races
could be seen running from the mall, some clutching babies, while others
crawled along walls to avoid stray bullets.
"They
spoke something that seemed like Arabic or Somali," said a man who
escaped the mall and gave his name only as Jay. "I saw people being
executed after being asked to say something."
Kenyan
police, troops and special forces then moved in and went shop-to-shop.
Foreign security officials -- from Israel as well as the United States
and Britain -- were also seen at the complex throughout the drama.
An AFPTV reporter said she saw at least 20 people rescued from a toy shop, some of them children taken away on stretchers.
Kenneth Kerich, who was shopping when the attack happened, described scenes of utter panic.
"I
suddenly heard gunshots and saw everyone running around so we lied
down. I saw two people who were lying down and bleeding, I think they
were hit by bullets," he said.
"The gunmen tried to fire at my head but missed. I saw at least 50 people shot," mall employee Sudjar Singh told AFP.
Among
the dead was renowned Ghanaian poet and former UN envoy Kofi Awoonor,
78, Ghanaian officials said, while his son was injured.
-- Shebab claim responsibility --
A
spokesman for Shebab said the attack was retaliation for Kenya's nearly
two-year-old military presence in war-torn Somalia in support of the
internationally backed Mogadishu government.
"We have
warned Kenya of that attack but it ignored (us), still forcefully
holding our lands... while killing our innocent civilians," Shebab
spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said in a statement.
"If you want Kenya in peace, it will not happen as long as your boys are in our lands."
The
group also issued a string of statements via Twitter, one of them
claiming that Muslims in the centre had been "escorted out by the
Mujahideen before beginning the attack".
Israeli
interests in Kenya have come under attack before. In November 2002 there
were two simultaneous attacks in the Mombasa area. A missile targeted
an Israeli charter flight as it took off from the port city's airport,
but missed.
At the same time a car packed with
explosives smashed into the Paradise hotel, the only Israeli-owned hotel
in the Mombasa area, as Israeli tourists were checking in. Ten Kenyans
and three Israelis died.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "appalled by the brutal attack against innocent citizens" in Nairobi.
Paris
confirmed two French citizens were among those killed in what it
condemned as a "cowardly" attack. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper
said two Canadians, one of them a diplomat, were among the dead, while
official Chinese news agency Xinhua said one Chinese woman was killed
and her child wounded.
Two Indians and a South Korean were also among the dead.
The
United States said its citizens were reportedly among those injured by
the "despicable" act while British Foreign Secretary William Hague said
there were "undoubtedly" British nationals caught up in the siege.
The UN Security Council condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms".
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