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Kenya rejects terrorists’ claims of hostages buried in rubble at mall
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A TERRORIST group behind the takeover of a Nairobi mall said yesterday that the Kenyan government assault team carried out “a demolition” of the building, burying 137 hostages in rubble. A government spokesman rejected the claim and said Kenyan forces were clearing all rooms, firing as they moved and encountering no one.
In a series of tweets from a Twitter account believed to be genuine, al-Shabab also said that “having failed to defeat the mujahideen inside the mall, the Kenyan government disseminated chemical gases to end the siege.”
Kenyan government spokesman Manoah Esipisu said no chemical weapons were used — including tear gas — and that the collapse of floors in the mall was caused by a fire set by the terrorists.
He said the official civilian death toll remained at 61.
“Al-Shabab is known for wild allegations and there is absolutely no truth to what they’re saying,” he said. But officials said the death count will likely rise. Estimates vary between only a few bodies to dozens possibly still inside the mall.
Photos and video of the damage showed the mall’s top level parking lot collapsed in the middle of the building. That brought the second level down onto the ground floor on top of at least eight civilians and one or more attackers, said Esipisu.
The United States Ambassador to Kenya says US experts are helping Kenyan forces search for bodies and evidence in the collapsed mall that Islamic terrorists held for four days.
Robert Godec said the US was providing technical support and equipment to Kenyan forces and medical responders.
Godec also said that the US, at the request of the Kenyan government, was assisting the investigation to bring the attack’s organizers and perpetrators to justice.
Kenyan forensic experts — aided by American FBI agents and Israeli specialists — are working to reconstruct what happened in the attack, said Esipisu, speaking at the scene. British forensic experts are also expected.
Meanwhile, a British man was arrested in Kenya following the terrorist attack, Britain’s Foreign Office said yesterday.
British officials are ready to provide assistance to the man, the agency said. Officials would not provide his name or details. He is believed to be in his 30s.
Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper said he was arrested on Monday as he tried to board a flight from Nairobi to Turkey with a bruised face and while acting suspiciously.
Kenyan officials have said that 11 suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack, including at least seven at the airport, and they were being questioned.
The Westgate Mall, which was popular with foreign residents as well as tourists and wealthy Kenyans, is now being treated as a crime scene and the military has handed over control of the building to the police.
On Tuesday night, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared three days of national mourning from yesterday.
The attack killed at least 61 civilians, six security officers and five extremists, the president said.
Another 175 people were injured, including more than 60 who remain in hospital.
The militants targeted non-Muslims, and at least 18 foreigners were among the dead, including six Britons, as well as citizens from China, France, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana and South Africa. Five Americans were among the wounded.
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