Kenya president: Hotel assault gunmen killed
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Kenya鈥檚 security forces have killed the Islamic extremist gunmen whose assault on a luxury hotel and shopping complex took 14 鈥渋nnocent lives,鈥 the country鈥檚 president said yesterday.
鈥淎ll the terrorists have been eliminated,鈥 President Uhuru Kenyatta said in announcing an end to the overnight operation to secure the complex in the capital, Nairobi.
In a televised address, Kenyatta did not say how many attackers were involved. He said more than 700 people were evacuated during the security operation and urged Kenyans to 鈥済o back to work without fear,鈥 saying the East African country is safe.
Sporadic gunfire could be heard while scores of people were rescued at daybreak during what police called a 鈥渕opping-up鈥 exercise. A new blast was heard in the afternoon as witnesses said security forces were making a sweep of the complex for any explosives.
Surveillance video showed the attack that began on Tuesday afternoon involved at least four armed men.
Al-Shabab 鈥 the extremist group allied to al-Qaida and based in neighboring Somalia 鈥 claimed responsibility for the carnage at the DusitD2 hotel complex, which includes bars, restaurants, offices and banks and is in Nairobi鈥檚 well-to-do Westlands neighborhood with many foreign expatriates. Al-Shabab carried out the 2013 attack at the nearby Westgate Mall in Nairobi that killed 67 people.
Most of the victims were Kenyans, a mortuary attendant said. The US State Department confirmed that an American citizen was among the dead, and the company I-DEV International confirmed that its co-founder, Jason Spindler, had been killed. The British high commissioner in Kenya said at least one British national had been killed.
Two local victims had been working on a fund to 鈥渂ring peace and prosperity to Somalia through more than 100 local community initiatives,鈥 the London-based Adam Smith International said of its employees.
Kenyan authorities sent special forces into the hotel to flush out the gunmen. Scores of people were rushed to safety in the early morning hours as explosions and gunfire continued. 鈥淭o God be the Glory. We have been rescued. Over 50 people in my group. No injuries,鈥 tweeted a Kenyan businesswoman, Aggie Asiimwe Konde.
The coordinated assault began with an explosion that targeted three vehicles outside a bank, and a suicide bombing in the hotel lobby that severely wounded a number of guests, said Kenya鈥檚 national police chief, Joseph Boinnet.
Al-Shabab has vowed retribution against Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to fight it since 2011. Tuesday鈥檚 attack came three years to the day after al-Shabab rebels attacked a Kenyan military base in Somalia, killing scores.
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