The gun shots were accompanied by an explosion and followed by security forces carrying a body out of the mall, the AP reports. A number of witnesses have reported on Twitter that they heard explosions coming from inside the building. Plume of smoke from Westgate Mall siege dominating Nairobi skyline. Extraordinary picture by alykhansatchu Kenya pic. The United States was notified through official channels that Kenyan authorities now believe that foreigners were among the attackers, the source said.
Julius Karangi, Kenya's chief of general staff, said earlier that the attackers were "clearly a multinational collection from all over the world.
First images emerging of hostages being freed at Westgate. WestgateAttack pic. All hostages are believed to have been evacuated, the spokesman added. Earlier, American media reported that FBI is investigating several members of the Somali diaspora in the US in connection with the attack. KDF has dominated all floors of Westgate Mall building. Troops are now concentrating on clearing the building. They have also published an updated death and injury toll. More than civilians have been rescued.
Shooting in the streets outside Westgate , feels like possible endgame. The previous number was wrong due to double counts of some bodies as they were moved from morgue to morgue. Some of the Kenyan forces sustained injuries in the firefight. Four blasts were heard by reporters stationed outside.
The minister said all of the attackers were male, but some were wearing female clothes, which probably explained witness accounts, which said there were women among the terrorists. He added that the plume of smoke rising over the mall comes from mattresses, which have been set alight by the gunmen as a decoy.
Last assault met with explosives. Just what I predicted. Eight people stood outside Artcaffe as a woman in a black uniform and a sky blue facemask requested vaccine certificates. Six would-be customers left in frustration. The woman said around half their customers had been turned away. On Thursday around 20 people stood outside a tented vaccination site downtown on Thursday. Terrible toll: The Kenya government said that three storeys of the centre had collapsed. Officials claimed that this was due to rockets being fired into the site to subdue Al Shabaab terrorists.
Attack: The terror cell entered the site from the car park. There have also been claims that some fighters may have come in through a basement. Shock: Many of the first victims were shot dead in their cars. They were caught unawareness and had no time to take cover. During the firefight, hostages reportedly had their throats slashed from ear to ear and were thrown screaming from third-floor balconies as the siege came to a bloody end. Forensics teams, still sifting through the mountains of rubble, fear many more bodies are yet to be found.
One soldier told the Daily Mirror : ' I have seen many bad things, but this will haunt me for the rest of my days. The main thrust of the operation began at 6am on Monday when troops and helicopters surrounded the building, but their efforts were hampered by an Al Shabaab sniper who managed to pin them back for nearly 24 hours. As tear gas was used to try to flush him out, another terrorist reportedly blew himself up. It is believed the resulting fire may have killed dozens of shoppers in a supermarket.
The following day, the soldiers were ordered to adopt a 'shoot to kill' policy and launched their final attack on the terror group on the roof of the mall at 5pm. Between 10 and 15 terrorists are thought to have stormed the mall on Saturday, according to Kenyan officials. The police said five insurgents were killed in the battle and at least 10 taken into custody.
Still smouldering: Smoke rises over the mall on Thursday morning as a forensic examination begins inside. Assessing the damage: Kenyan government officials accompanied by armed security officers tour an outside upper level near a collapsed floor of the Westgate mall. Surveying the scene: A Maasai man looks out over the smouldering mall from an overlooking building. When Kenyan troops launched their assault to retake the mall, they didn't just face bullets from AK rifles.
They found themselves up against an arsenal of booby-trap explosives, heavy-calibre machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and tens of thousands of live rounds.
Much of this would very unlikely have been carried into the complex by the Al Shabaab militia, say security sources. They say they were much more likely to have been smuggled in beforehand. It is also thought English-speaking foreign fighters were carefully selected and plans of the huge Westgate mall studied down to the ventilation ducts. Watch Live. Breaking News Close. You may also like. From the same country. On the same subject.
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