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President says mall siege over
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Kenya’s president announced yesterday that a siege of a Nairobi shopping mall was over, but said losses from the attack by Islamist gunmen were “immense” and 67 people had died.
“We have ashamed and defeated our attackers, that part of our task is completed,” Uhuru Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation.
“Our losses are immense,” he said. “We have been badly hurt, but we have been brave, united and strong. Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed. We have defeated our enemies and showed the whole world what we can accomplish.”
Kenyatta said 61 civilians and six members of the security forces died in the siege. He said five attackers had been killed and that there were 11 suspects in custody. The president also called three days of national mourning.
A group of attackers marched into the four-story Westgate Mall at midday on Saturday, spraying shoppers with automatic weapons fire and tossing grenades.
Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab said it carried out the attack.
Kenyatta said that “forensic investigations are underway to establish the nationalities of all those involved.”
There had been explosions at the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi throughout the day, and the chatter of gunfire from inside the building could also be heard. Fresh smoke also rose in the afternoon.
As the fighting went on for a fourth day, Nairobi’s city morgue braced for the arrival of a large number of bodies.
Earlier, the Kenyan Red Cross confirmed at least 62 deaths, but spokesman Abbas Gullet said it was not known how many more may be dead in the building.
Three Kenyan soldiers were among the dead and eight others were injured, the Kenyan Interior Ministry said.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said “two or three Americans” and “one Brit” were among those who attacked the mall.
She said the Americans were 18 to 19 years old, of Somali or Arab origin and lived “in Minnesota and one other place” in the US.
The attacker from Britain was a woman who has “done this many times before,” Mohamed said.
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