Westgate Shooting: Al Shaabab Releases Names of Attackers at Westgate
Shocked victim of the Westgate terror attack trying to come to terms with her experience. Al Shabbaab has named those who shocked her.
Al Shaabab has released names of the attackers at Westgate on its twitter handle as follows;
1. Ahmed Mohamed Isse: 22 years old, native, from Saint Paul Minnesota
2. Abdifatah Osman Keenadiid: 24 years old from Minneapolis
3. Gen Mustafe Noorudiin: 27 years old from Kansas city. MO
4. Qasim Said Mussa: 22 years old Garissa, Kenya.
5. Ahmed Nasir Shirdoon: 24 years old from London, UK
6. Zaki Jama Caraale: 20 years old from Hargeisa, Somalia
7. Ismael Guled: 23 years old from Helsinki Finland
8. Sayid Nuh: 25 years old from Kismayu, Somalia
9. Abdirizak Mouled: 24 years old from Ontario Canada
The list shows that only one attacker was Kenyan or bred in Kenya, the rest having graduated from Al Shabbaab’s foreign Universities. If this list is to be taken seriously, Kenya’s war of aggression on Somalia to wipe out Al-shabbaab was hopeless to say the least. The list shows that Al-Shabbaab has an international Network of terrorists waiting to be deployed at any time to spill blood, murder and destroy property.
A new question which emerges is how all these terrorists entered Kenya without detection, given the billions of Kenyan shillings pumped into NISI, the spy Agency, to prevent unwanted or dangerous persons from entering Kenya and to maintain security. If all these terrorists could just walk into the country as if they were entering into a game park of elephants and giraffes, acquire high calibre AK47 automatic guns/grenades and stage such a spectacular terrorist attack in the capital city, then there is cause for all Kenyans to worry. The country’s Ministry of Internal Security is asleep while NSIS must have gone for an eternal holiday. Is there anybody who can still argue that Kenya is not a failed State?
Okoth Osewe
Kenya Stockholm Blog 
Jubilee government is useless. Money is available for laptops yet al-kebab members are entering Kenya without border checks. Too bad that the First family has been hit but this will wake up the presidency to be serious about insecurity. Securing our borders is priority number one instead of raiding Somalia.
On a personal level, having lived in Eastleigh in peaceful times in late 1980s and knowing how it was enough to be a Somali to be picked on by the security services to extort money from you, or to be robbed by machete wielding and gun-trotting Kenyan gangs, I can only feel sorry for any Somali who lives in Nairobi right now. Somalis must be feeling a sense of insecurity and helplessness during these stressful times. My heart goes out to them, as it equally goes out to the relatives and families of those killed in the bus bombing.
Although there was ongoing tension between Somalis and Kenyans in Eastleigh caused by Kenyans resentful of Somalis’ business success, I cannot help but to situate these disturbances in the context of the Kenyan invasion of Somalia in 2011. It was not that long when I asked the above questions in my article “Why the international community should not support the Kenyan invasion of Somalia?” published in Hiiraan.com. These and other hard nosed questions seem to be imposing themselves as recent developments have shown, and no one knows the answer.
A year has elapsed since the Kenyan invasion of Somalia, and anyone who examines the current situation on the ground can see three things becoming obvious as days go by.
First, if the incursion was meant to protect Kenyan citizens and Kenya’s tourism industry from bombings and kidnappings by terrorists, it has failed to do so. Leave aside the tourism resorts of Mombasa or Malindi, bombings are becoming normal features in Nairobi as evidenced by the recent Eastleigh bombing. A year ago, who would have imagined bombs would explode on a bus in Nairobi, equating this beautiful metropolitan city to the war-torn Mogadishu in terms of insecurity?
Second, if the military adventure was aimed at securing Kenya borders with Somalia, insecurity along the Somali-Kenyan border is worsen than ever, as remnants of Al-Shabaab and the Kenyan security forces hunt-down each other alongside this porous border. A classic example is the killing of three Kenyan soldiers by masked gunmen in a town that borders Somalia, where Islamist militants are based. This has led to one of the worst crackdowns in Garissa town in the Somali region in Kenya carried out not by the police but by the military, which shows the gravity of the situation. Garissa, 350km north-east of the capital Nairobi, has been reported to be a “ghost” town where the military is entering schools and is shooting students. At least 8 people have been killed, and over 50 people injured since the start of the crackdown. The Kenyan Defence Minister, Mohammed Yusuf Haji, said he did not authorise the army action. This might indicate that the situation is getting out of control and some sections of Kenya’s security apparatus are executing military operations without the knowledge and the approval of senior politicians.
Third, Somali nationalism/irredentism in the Somali region in Kenya, which was caused by the annexation of the region to Kenya by Britain although Somalis overwhelmingly voted to be united with their brethren in Somalia, seems to have been awakened and invigorated. Some underground liberation movements, such as the NFD liberation movement, have launched armed struggle against Kenyan authorities. The revival of Somali nationalism in the region is the most dangerous outcome of Kenya’s ill planned, ill-thought and myopic invasion of Somalia.
In conclusion, although the Kenyan forces have helped the Somali government to remove Al-Shabaab from some regions in south-western regions of Somalia, including the strategic port town of Kismayo, it seems thought the problem has shifted to the Kenyan-Somali border and to the Somali region in Kenya where insecurity has increased compared to the situation prior the invasion. The fact of the matter is that the longer the Kenyan forces remain in Somalia, the more likely they will be perceived as occupiers determined to annex Kismayo to Kenya. It is very likely that this will create more Somali nationalist movements determined to liberate Somali regions including the Somali region in Kenya from the clutches of Kenya.
In short, Kenya, please come out of Somalia quickly before it is too late.
I dont understad – please elighten me. So there was 3 aericans, on from UK and one from Finland and one from Canada that was involvd in the attac? Is this true? Why these nationalities? I just dont understand this – is there by any chance fake? Anybody who knows or can give a comment.
KSB: How are you enblandflera. Thanks for your Linkedin invitation to KSB: The point is that those named were official residents of thos countries although they were somehow found in Kenya at Westgate. No one can vouch for the authenticity of certain information online so consume the information as you deem fit.
Majority of Somali borders are shared with Ethiopia who have had perennial conflicts with their Eastern neighbours but unlike Kenya they have ensured people of Somali origin do not infiltrate their society. To the same extent Seychelles ensured minimal settlement of Somali people. These two countries are today far less vulnerable to Al shabab terrorism. Kenya on the other hand has over time welcomed people of Somali origin to an extent that a significant number of them are part of the country’s ‘shakers and movers’. I grew up in Eastleigh and witnessed its dramatic metamorphism in the 80’s as Somalis bought off locals to take over the once middle/low income estate. Towards the mid nineties locals were literally being forced to sell off to Somalis who were buying plots at 5x market price. The issue is now water under the bridge and both Somalis and Kenyans have to accept they are today one and the same thing
SEPTEMBER
KENYANS RAISE MORE THAN KSHS. 30 MILLION IN 24 HOURS ON M-PESA PAYBILL 848484 FOR WESTGATE VICTIMS
More than 100,000 Kenyans have contributed on M-PESA so far. Monies sent range from 10 bob to Kshs. 50,000.
Abbas Gullet sets target at Kshs. 80 million.
Funds to go towards emergency evacuation crisis operations:
23.09.2013….Kenyans of all walks of life have responded overwhelmingly to an appeal by the Kenya Red Cross Society to raise funds for emergency rescue operations for the victims of Westgate Mall tragedy.
As at 12 noon today, more than 100,000 Kenyans had sent an equivalent of Kshs.32 152,451to the M-PESA PayBill number 848484 ranging from Kshs.10 to Kshs. 50,000. The PayBill number, which was set up on Sunday by Safaricom Limited, has been zero rated meaning that all funds raised will go towards the Kenya Red Cross emergency and humanitarian support services for the Westgate tragedy.
“In keeping with our commitment to positively impact the lives of Kenyans- we have set up a special Zero Rated PayBill Number 848484 to coordinate the fundraising effort towards the medical care and support of the victims of the Westgate Mall Tragedy. These funds will be administered by our partners; The Kenya Red Cross Society. I urge you to support this in any way you can,” said Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore.
Since the Westgate Mall crisis, the Kenya Red Cross Society, under the leadership of its General Secretary Abbas Gullet has been at the forefront of providing humanitarian services which include mobilizing the public to donate blood, psychosocial support for the affected, evacuation services and emergency triage services.
Abbas Gullet says that the Red Cross needs more than Kshs.80 million to facilitate these services.
“I would like to thank Kenyans for their overwhelming support-we have seen Kenyans come out in large numbers to donate blood and share the proverbial ten cents to help out a brother and sister in need. The Kenyan giving spirit never ceases to amaze me and I would like to call on all of you not to tire because the task ahead may be daunting but with your help, we will overcome,” said Gullet.
“Further, I would like to reassure all Kenyans that we will account for every penny received towards this worthy cause. Please continue contributing. Asanteni sana,” he added.
Look at these Corrupt fat-assed Police chiefs military men and the hopeless Masi boy used as a Home security boy While innocent lives has gone to spill The Nsis guys must resign IG of Police Kimaiyo know how to issue orders to shoot-to kill Kenyan Jobless youth Yet his boys failed miserably to loot-out Somali terrorist youth who entered Kenya while the Kenya security was busy folowing Cord leaders and threatening and intimidating ICC witnesses and other human rights like Maina Kiai>Look when these failures are deceiving the people of Kenya and the world May GOD bless Kenyans>Watch these Useless Fat-assed failures at it deceiving their Cityzens>
MAN HELD OVER MALL ATTACK googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1361903771681-0’); }); Monday, September 23, 2013 – 00:00 — BY STAR TEAM solidarity: President Uhuru Kenyatta with Raila Odinga, Musalia Mudavadi, Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko and Majority Leader Adan Duale.united in grief: President Uhuru Kenyatta with Raila Odinga and Musalia Mudavadi console Fred Bosire, a survivor of the Westgate Mall terrorist attack at MP Shah Hospital yesterday.A 33-year-old recent Muslim convert from Meru is being held following the Westgate mall attack. Identified as Ali Hassan Gitonga from Gikurumene village in Meru, police say Gitonga is part of sleeper terrorist cell based in Eastleigh’s Majengo area. He is alleged to have travelled to Somalia for training with Al Shabaab sometime in 2011 and returned home late last year after the Kenya Defence Forces moved in to kick out the the militia group. He has been living in Eastleigh Section Three since then and was a frequent visitor to the Riyadha Mosque. Yesterday, Deputy Inspector General of Police Grace Kaindi confirmed that police had arrested Gitonga and are questioning him over the attack. Gitonga is admitted at a city hospital where he is receiving treatment after being shot in the right thigh and left ankle during Saturday’s exchange of fire with the police who were rescuing those still being held hostage in the mall. Police recovered a national identity card. Television footage streamed most of Saturday showed the man being half carried from the mall with his head covered with a jacket. He is currently under tight security at the hospital. He has however refused to answer questions by the police and has also declined to record a statement. The security agencies were yesterday reconstructing the attack. They have since Saturday afternoon been scrutinizing the CCTV footage which shows the attackers as they entered the mall and the panic that ensued. The CCTV was abruptly disconnected by the attackers many of whom are still holed up in the mall. Preliminary reports indicate that the attack was well planned and synchronized. The attackers, estimated to be between 10 and 15 people accessed the mall from three places — the basement, the main entrance and from the roof. The attackers sprayed automatic gunfire to kill the security personnel manning the entrances. They drove into the mall using a white Toyota registration number KBS 629Q and a metallic silver Mitsubishi Lancer registration number KAS 575X which were still at the mall where they had been abandoned. By yesterday afternoon, the death toll stood at 59 and 175 injured. Some of those hurt were security personnel who got injured through ‘friendly fire’. The number of attackers who are still holed up in the mall is unclear even though suspicion is growing that some them may have sneaked under the pretext they were hostages. Yesterday, the Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku said the operation was “delicate” and had taken time as there were still hostages being held inside the mall. The first and second floors of the mall had been secured and sanitised by last evening as well as a section of the basement. However, there were fears that the attackers may have bobby-trapped a section of the basement which required a careful response. Kenyans overwhelmingly responded to appeals for blood with hundreds queuing at various hospitals and emergency blood donor centres in Nairobi and Mombasa and other towns. An appeal for Westgate Mall victims launched by Safaricom on its pay bill number 848484 realized Sh6 million within six hours and more was expected. Political differences were set aside when President Uhuru flanked by former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition Cord Alliance Raila Odinga and UDF’s Musalia Mudavadi appeared together at State House to condemn the attack. “They shall not get away with their despicable, beastly acts. Like the cowardly perpetrators now cornered in the building, we will punish the masterminds swiftly and painfully,” said President Uhuru in his address to the nation. Raila warned Kenyans against being divided along religious lines as a result of the attack and urged them to remain steadfast. The Israeli government despatched an elite Israeli unit to help the Kenyan police in bring the siege at Westgate Mall to an end. “The Israelis have just entered the shopping centre and they are rescuing the hostages and the injured,” the source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Reuters confirmed the Israeli involvement, quoting security source saying Israeli advisers are helping with ‘negotiating strategy’ to end siege. Unconfirmed reports indicate that a unit of the US Special Forces were also despatched to assist the Kenya security agencies. Messages of condolence and solidarity continued to be received from different all over the world as well as the United Nations and various UN agencies. These countries and agencies offered the government assistance to deal with the crisis. At the ICC, Deputy President William Ruto’s lawyer Karim Khan asked the court to allow Ruto to return home to assist Uhuru in handling the crisis. The court was expected to make its decision on the basis of the written submissions yesterday or after oral arguments this morning before the start of the trial proceedings.
The world might be suprised to find these Somali terrorists living in western countries have Kenya Pass/ports and id cards hence corruption in Kenya where Pas/ports/Id cards /cirtificates of all categories is sold in streets degrees/Phds /death/birth certificates are sold in oppen markets Govt offices hence each and every Regime that comes in kenya is corrupt and fails to fight corruption >Ghost workers, nepotisn and clanism! its a rotten shit-pit Nigger Country!
Monday, Sep 23 2013
Has British ‘White Widow’ been killed in final assault on Kenyan shopping mall? Officials say body of white woman terrorist found at scene
A dead white woman has been found among Islamic terrorists killed by soldiers as they stormed the mall where 62 shoppers were slaughtered this weekend, Kenyan officials said.
The claim, made by three sources to news agency Reuters, will fuel speculation that the dead woman is Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, who is wanted by Kenyan police on a string of terror charges. Police will also investigate the possibility that she is a hostage dressed in one of the terrorist’s clothes.
Asked if it was Lewthwaite, dubbed the ‘White Widow’, an intelligence officer said: ‘We don’t know.’
Moments after the news broke, Al Shabaab, the Al Qaeda affiliated terror group behind the massacre at Nairobi’s Westgate Shopping Centre, used their Twitter feed to claim that Lewthwaite was safe.
Eleven soldiers from the Kenyan Defence Force (KDF) were also wounded in the fighting.
The official Kenyan police Twitter feed reported that more than 200 civilians had been rescued as troops took control of all the floors of the mall.
‘Chances of any terrorists sneaking and escaping are very slim. KDF troops have sealed all possible escape routes,’ it said.
‘Fire started in the building by the terrorists to distract the ongoing operation is being managed by fire fighters from different agencies.’
The Kenyan authorities have said that 62 civilians have now been confirmed dead while 65 people were receiving treatment in hospital.
David Cameron is set to return to London to chair a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergencies committee. Earlier in the capital, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond chaired the meeting.
Downing Street said Mr Cameron – who has spoken to the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta – offered help in terms of ‘policing, intelligence collaboration and other related kinds’ of assistance.
The Foreign Office confirmed that six British nationals were now known to be among the dead – who also included foreigners from France, the Netherlands, South Africa, Ghana, the United States and Canada.
None of the Britons have been identified officially although one has been named in reports as Ross Langdon, who had dual nationality with Australia.
A spokesman said they were aware of the reports suggesting Samantha Lewthwaite was among those dead, and were ‘studying them’.
The Kenyan authorities have now said all the militants were male, although some are said to have been dressed as women.
The start of the final assault was heralded by a series of loud blasts and a barrage of gunfire as a pall of thick black smoke began to rise over the mall.
The chief of the Kenyan defence forces, General Julius Karangi, said the Islamist militants who carried out the attack – thought to number around 10 to 15 – included fighters from various countries.
‘We have an idea who these people are and they are clearly a multinational collection from all over the world,’ he said.
Responsibility for the attack as been claimed by al-Shabab – an Islamist group based in neighbouring Somalia with links to al Qaida.
Kenyan troops have been taking part in an African Union force involved in helping the Somali government to wrest back control of the country from al-Shabab.
Earlier, a Twitter account purporting to belong to an al-Shabab spokesman named a 24-year-old man from London as one of the gunmen.
The @hsm-press2 account listed a string of names it claimed were involved in the attack before being closed down, as previous usernames linked to the terrorist group had been.
Kenyan special forces claim they are on the way to resolving the crises.
Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said: ‘We think the operation will come to an end soon’, he said. ‘We are in control of all the floors, the terrorists are running and hiding in some stores… there is no room for escape’.
At least 175 were injured, including children.
There are fears the death toll will rise as security forces search the upmarket shopping complex.
Briton Ross Langdon, 33, confirmed as one of the dead, was an award-winning architect, who had dual nationality with Australia. He died alongside his heavily pregnant Dutch partner Elif Yavuz.
She was a Harvard-educated malaria specialist who worked for the Clinton Health Access Initiative and was just two weeks away from giving birth to her first child.
The identities of the rest of the dead Britons have not been released. A British man has told The Daily Telegraph that he had lost his wife and daughter and had identified their bodies from photographs shown to him by police.
Peruvian national Dr Juan Jesus Ortiz-Iruri, 63, who was due to start work at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine next month, was confirmed among the dead today.
Earlier , as Kenyan soldiers and more armoured personnel carriers descended on the mall, a spokesman for terror group Al Shabaab Ali Mohamud Rage said in a statement posted on an Islamist website that those held inside will ‘bear the brunt of any force’ used by soldiers against the militants.
The statement read: ‘We authorise the mujahedeen inside the building to take actions against the prisoners as much as they are pressed.
‘We are telling Christians advancing onto the mujahedeen to have mercy for their prisoners who will bear the brunt of any force directed against the mujahedeen.’
There were conflicting reports about the identity of the attackers. Al Shabaab claimed on Twitter last night that the group was being led by Samantha Lewthwaite, who was married to Jermaine Lindsay, one of the 7/7 suicide bombers.
Known as the White Widow, she is wanted by Kenyan police over links to a suspected terrorist cell planning bomb attacks.
A link between Lewthwaite and the Westgate attack was made after soldiers claimed they had seen a white woman in a veil shouting orders to gunman in Arabic.
Meanwhile, a Twitter account claiming to represent Al Shabaab yesterday claimed that terrorists from seven nations are involved in the attack, including the U.S., Britain and Canada.
The HSM Press Office account, which has been suspended twice, claimed the group were Ahmed Nasir Shirdoon, 24, from London, UK; Gen Mustafe Noorduiin, 27, from Kansas City, U.S., Abdifatah Osman Keenadiid, 24, from Minneapolis, U.S., and Ahmed Mohamad Isse, 22, from Saint Paul, U.S; Ismael Guled, 23, from Finland; Abdirizak Mouled, 24, from Ontario, Canada; and Zaki Jama Caraale, 20, and Sayid Nuh, 25, both from Somalia.
Meanwhile, a Twitter account claiming to represent Al Shabaab yesterday claimed that terrorists from seven nations are involved in the attack, including the U.S., Britain and Canada.
The HSM Press Office account, which has been suspended twice, claimed the group were Ahmed Nasir Shirdoon, 24, from London, UK; Gen Mustafe Noorduiin, 27, from Kansas City, U.S., Abdifatah Osman Keenadiid, 24, from Minneapolis, U.S., and Ahmed Mohamad Isse, 22, from Saint Paul, U.S; Ismael Guled, 23, from Finland; Abdirizak Mouled, 24, from Ontario, Canada; and Zaki Jama Caraale, 20, and Sayid Nuh, 25, both from Somalia.
A top Kenyan military official said he believes the attackers are ‘a multinational collection from all over the world.’
General Julius Karangi said fighters from an array of nations participated in the attack claimed by Al Shabaab, a Somali group allies with al-Qaida.
We have an idea who they are, their nationality and even the number. We are fighting global terrorism here and we have sufficient intel (intelligence) to suggest that.’
As the stand-off entered its third day, sustained bursts of rapid gunfire erupted at dawn and lasted 15 minutes, and soldiers posted around the complex ducked for cover.
This was followed by three big explosions, AFP correspondents at the scene said.
A Kenyan special forces officer said troops had moved in to end the siege with force.
‘I saw them only once, I could not see them much,” he said. ‘It was hide-and-seek, hide-and-seek, hide-and-seek. In the end we had to use full force, we had to finish with these guys.’
Al Shabaab have not said how many people were being held by the dozen-or-so attackers, who marched into the Israeli-ownedfour-storey complex at midday Saturday, spraying shoppers with machine gunfire and tossing grenades.
One security officer said within half-an-hour of the attack the mall had been turned into ‘an abattoir’ as gunmen wearing Islamic scarves but Western clothes went on the rampage.
Police chief David Kimaiyo said today that some hostages have been freed. However, a group claiming to represent the Al Shabaab terrorists said they are still fighting inside the building.
In a message on Twitter Mr Kimaiyo wrote: ‘Thumbs up to our multi-agency team, we have just managed to rescue some hostages. We’re increasingly gaining advantage of the attackers.
‘I saw them only once, I could not see them much,’ he said. ‘It was hide-and-seek, hide-and-seek, hide-and-seek. In the end we had to use full force, we had to finish with these guys.’
The HSM Press Office account, which has been suspended twice and claims to have contact with the terrorists inside, wrote today: ‘They’ve obtained large amounts of ammunition and are, by the blessings of Allah alone, still firm and still dominating the show #Westgate.’
The attacks have a chilling similarity to those in Mumbai in 2008 where terrorist besieged hotels, community centres and streets in 12 co-ordinated attacks, leaving more than 170 dead.
Following chairing a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee in Whitehall, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the UK had offered assistance to Kenya.
He said: ‘Cobra met this morning and had an updated assessment of the situation. I can confirm that there is a fourth British national confirmed dead and the next of kin have been informed.
‘We’re in close touch with the Kenyan authorities and we stand ready to provide them with any additional assistance they require.’
A British businessman said four members of his family were killed in the atrocity.
Samir Bharma, from Spinney Hills, Leicester, was last night making arrangements to fly to the Kenyan capital and said his relatives were killed while taking part in a recording of a television programme called Masterchef Junior.
He said: ‘They were young people who were taking part in a cookery contest that was taking place in the centre. Unfortunately they have all passed away.
‘An aunt – my dad’s cousin – she’s critical in hospital. I’ve spoken to my father who is there, but contact is difficult.’
Another Leicester man said his parents and brother and sister were in the shopping mall when the terrorists struck.
The man, in his 20s, wishes to remain anonymous after his mother warned him that terrorists had hacked into Facebook accounts of Nairobi residents and left the chilling warning ‘we are watching you’.
He said: ‘[My mother] was just passing by in the upper mall. The whole thing was taking place on the ground floor and she just saw gunmen wandering around everywhere and shooting people. She saw her best friend being shot straight in the head.
‘My sister just froze to the spot. My brother dragged my sister out into the parking lot. At that point the parking lot was secure and people could leave.’
Survivors of the siege told today how terrorists, their faces hidden with Islamic scarves, stormed the shopping mall and started tossing grenades and spraying shoppers with AK-47s.
The gunmen ordered all Muslims to leave before carrying out rudimentary tests to see if hostages could recite the Koran and name the mother of the Prophet Mohammed.
As soldiers began working their way through the shopping centre yesterday they discovered that piles of bodies had been pushed against doors to slow their progress.
Reports on where the terrorists are holed up differ, with some reports suggesting they have barricaded themselves and dozens of hostages in a toilet block on the ground floor.
A French woman, known only as Pauline, said the terrorists told her they only wanted to kill Kenyans and Americans.
Al Shabaab has demanded that President Uhuru Kenyatta must pull out Kenyan troops from Somalia.
Troops have pushed the militants on to the defensive over the past two years as part of an African Union-backed peacekeeping mission. Kenyatta refused.
The president, who lost a nephew in Saturday’s killing, vowed to hold firm in the ‘war on terror’ in Somalia and said, cautiously, that Kenyan forces could end the siege.
‘I assure Kenyans that we have as good a chance to successfully neutralise the terrorists as we can hope for,’ he said. ‘We will punish the masterminds swiftly and painfully.’
Judges at the International Criminal Court adjourned the trial of Kenyan Vice President William Ruto today for a week to allow him to return home to deal with the hostage crisis.
Ruto and Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, face charges of crimes against humanity in relation to their role in coordinating a wave of violence that swept Kenya in the aftermath of the country’s contested 2007 elections.
The court’s unusually swift decision was taken during an emergency session after prosecutors said they had no objection to a short delay in proceedings, and a representative for the witnesses broke down in tears in the courtroom, saying Ruto should be allowed to attend to the urgent matter.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2429784/Has-British-White-Widow-killed-final-assault-Kenyan-shopping-mall-Officials-say-body-white-woman-terrorist-scene.html
Kenya terror strike
Swedes escape Nairobi mall attack
Published: söndag 22 september kl 11:07, Radio Sweden
Five Swedes escaped unharmed from the Westgate mall in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, where members of the Al Shaabab terrorist group killed at least 59 people and wounded hundreds on Saturday. As the hostage standoff entered its second day on Sunday, the Swedish embassy urged Swedish citizens to avoid public spaces and big crowds.
A spokeswoman for the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs told Swedish Radio News that the embassy was trying to find out whether any Swedes remained in the mall on Sunday.
She said: “The embassy has been in touch with Swedes who were at the location and who escaped unharmed, but they are of course looking into whether there are any other Swedes affected.”
The five Swedes who escaped were in or near the mall at the time of the massacre.
Svante Yngrot, 47, was there his wife and two-year-old son. He told Swedish Television News that he could hear shots and explosions as the terrorists stormed the mall.
“I took my wife and my child and rushed towards an emergency exit. We ran one floor up and shut ourselves in a room with 150 other people,” Yngrot said.
He described the atmosphere as “full of dread and fear”. He and his family managed to escape after hiding for three hours.
“Our son is just as happy as usual and that is a relief, but my wife and I have a long night ahead of us with many thoughts,” Yngrot said.
Eva Wiberg, a spokeswoman for the Swedish school in Nairobi, told newspaper Svenska Dagbladet that the school is security conscious and that pupils ride buses to and from most activities.
“Today, the pupils have been at activities that did not take place near the Westgate mall”, she said on Saturday, but added that many Swedes in Nairobi live near the mall.
On Saturday evening, a group of Swedish high-school pupils had planned to have dinner at the mall. “Naturally, we have decided not to go there tonight,” said Tomas Halldin, the principal of the school, which has around 130 pupils from the Nordic countries.
“This mall is very popular, not least among foreigners and there were a number of Swedes both inside and just outside the mall when the attack happened. The Swedes who we know were there are safe and unharmed,” Johan Borgstam, Sweden’s ambassador in Nairobi, told news agency TT.
Around 1,000 Swedes live in Kenya, according to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The Somali Islamist group Al Shaabab claimed responsibility for the assault on Saturday. The attackers were reportedly dressed in uniforms and were heavily armed, carrying grenades and AK-47 assault rifles. Witnesses told news agency AFP that the attackers “executed” people who spoke foreign languages.
Police and military surrounded the shopping centre, with gunfire lasting for hours. In a television speech on Saturday evening, Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, said that he had lost close family members in the bloody attack.
”Svenskar bland terroristerna i Nairobi”
Publicerad i dag 01:16
nairobi. Två personer med svensk anknytning kan vara bland de islamistiska gärningsmän som barrikaderat sig på ett köpcentrum i Kenyas huvudstad Nairobi. Det hävdade al-Shabaab, som tagit på sig dådet, på söndagskvällen.
Islamistmilisens Twitterkonto har upprepade gånger stängts av under helgen men på söndagen fungerade de på nytt under ett nytt alias, och publicerade en lång lista med namn på personer som de hyllar för genomförandet av attacken i Kenyas huvudstad Nairobi. Hittills har 68 personer bekräftats döda i terrordådet.
Efter att al-Shabaab började lista namnen stängdes det nya kontot ned, men den tyska frilansjournalisten Florian Flade, som skrivit en rad artiklar om terrorism och fundamentalism, lyckades spara namnen.
Bland nationaliteterna på de 17 namngivna gärningsmännen finns bland annat amerikaner, britter, syrier – samt två personer med svensk hemadress.
Ännu har ingen medieorganisation bekräftat personernas identiteter. al-Shabaab tog på lördagskvällen på sig ansvaret för terrordådet som fortfarande är under utveckling i Nairobi.
Händelsen är den värsta av sitt slag i Kenyas huvudstad sedan bombningen av den amerikanska ambassaden 1998, som al-Qaida låg bakom.
Erik Esbjörnsson
http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/svenskar-bland-terroristerna-i-nairobi/
Please be aware of the fact that Al-Shebab is notorious for lying about the idenitities of its “fighters”. In particular, they’ve been known repeatedly to use forged passports and used passports to make it appear Europe-living Somalis or europeans of Somali descent are part of the movement to much greater numbers than they actually are. In all likelihood, the list of supposed militants is false.
Here Comes>The Most Cunning Mafia of Our Time (Uhuru Kenyatta)http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2013/09/uhuru-lodges-fresh-bid-skip-icc-trial/
He will Do Everything in his Power & Money to escape the ICC! Says:
September 24, 2013 at 00:47
Here Comes>The Most Cunning Mafia of Our Time (Uhuru Kenyatta)http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2013/09/uhuru-lodges-fresh-bid-skip-icc-trial
ppl stop being in denial…!!!!they were whites who attacked and killed…white terrorists!!!!!!!!!along with our KDFand israeli forces…who killed innocent ppl!! wake up ppl and raise ur voices!!!!!!say something about all this injustice…do something!!!!!!!!our loved ones are still missing and we get some cock and bull story…!!!!!!!!they killed them and murdered them in cold blood!!!!!
we dunno where are missing family members are..and we still sleep peacefully at night!!! we need answers!!!!!!!!!
Hero Washipping Nation (Its not easy to sell or buy)? Who is this Journalist cum photographer following Yusuf Hanji in every floor of the housing (bulding taking only his photos! please give us a break he is the son of a former defense minister? why only Hanji’s?? He is focust more than militarymen? stop your Propagandas meant to insulate and fertilize the whole Hogwash of
only brave Somali-living in kenya?>