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| The scene on Tuesday outside the Westgate mall in Nairobi, |
A siege at Kenya's
largest shopping mall in Nairobi launched by Islamic radicals in which
dozens of shoppers were killed and more than 170 were injured, appears
to be finally over.
With the crisis entering its fourth day,
Kenyan officials have declared that all hostages being held at the
Westgate shopping mall are free. They also claimed that the Kenyan
military had taken back control the building from al-Shabaab militants.
"We
believe all hostages have been released… situation of hostiles to be
confirmed," a message on the Twitter account of the government's
disaster operations centre said late on Monday.
There was confusion as a series of explosions continued to detonate at the five-storey mall in the early hours of this morning.
A
source quoted by the Kenyan media said that the forces involved in the
siege had left the building, and that the incidents were controlled
explosions as the general services unit swept the complex for remaining
explosives.
"A highly placed military source [said that the] hostage situation had been resolved," reported Kenya news channel KTN.
"[The operation] was spearheaded by Kenyan defence force which made inroads to the mall where captors were taking cover."
"All
six suspected al-Shabaab militants [have been] killed. The authorities
are now combing the mall floor by floor to make sure no explosive
devices have been left."
On Tuesday morning, smoke continued to be
visible from the mall, although there were conflicting accounts of the
cause. The government said fires were started by the attackers as a
diversionary tactic.
"We say the fire was put on by the terrorists
to try and distract our activities," said one official. "But I also
hasten to confirm that the fire will be put off shortly."
But Nairobi residents familiar with the mall said that the smoke appeared to be coming from the parking lot.
There
were conflicting reports about the identity of the attackers, six of
whom were reported to have been killed during the siege, and a number of
whom were being held in custody.
"We have an idea who these
people are, and they are clearly a multinational collection from all
over the world," said Major General Julius Karanja, the chief of general
staff for the Kenyan military. "We also have an idea that this is
clearly not a local event."
The Somali al-Shabaab Islamist group
has claimed responsibility for the attack, although its claim is still
being investigated by Kenyan authorities. Kenya's foreign minister,
Amina Mohamed, said on Monday that two or three Americans and one female
British national were among the attackers. The claim sparked fierce
speculation as to whether Samantha Lewthwaite, the British woman
suspected of masterminding a terrorist cell in Kenya's second largest
city of Mombasa, may have taken part in the incident.
Lewthwaite,
29, is the widow of Jermaine Lindsay, who blew up an underground train
at King's Cross in July 2005 killing 26 people. She is believed to be in
east Africa
after having escaped a police raid on a property in Mombasa. But while
witness and intelligence reports have claimed that one of the terrorists
was an armed, white female, official sources have maintained that all
the attackers were men.
As international interest in the Westgate
attack mounts, with the death toll of 62 – including British, Canadian,
American, Chinese, French, Ghanaian, Indian, Dutch, Peruvian, South
African and South Korean victims – expected to rise, Kenyan authorities
are under intense pressure over their handling of the investigation.
"We
really need proper investigations. Kenya has been bungling all
investigations it has handled in the past," said David Ohito, vice-chair
of the Kenya Editors Guild. "We need to expose the gaps that allowed
these attackers to run into the mall, stay there for days, making it
very difficult for our security forces to overcome. There will be
begging questions and we will be waiting for answers from the
authorities."
THE GUARDIAN
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