KENYA: Kenyans begin a three-day national mourning as they look for answers on who was behind the mall attack and why

Record ID: 353988

  • Title: KENYA: Kenyans begin a three-day national mourning as they look for answers on who was behind the mall attack and why
  • Date: 25th September 2013
  • Summary: HEADLINES ANOTHER HEADLINE READING 'IT'S OVER'
  • Embargoed: 10th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAZDN9E0O30D2TD7XY9CC0YT6
  • Story Text: Kenya began three days of mourning on Wednesday (September 25) for at least 67 people killed in the siege of a Nairobi mall, it was unclear how many more hostages may have died with the Somali Islamist attackers buried in the rubble.
    Flags all across the county flew at half-mast. Offices and schools remained open.
    Declaring final victory over the al Qaeda-linked gunmen from al Shabaab who stormed the Westgate shopping centre on Saturday (September 21), President Uhuru Kenyatta said that three floors in a part of the mall had collapsed near the end of the operation, leaving an unknown number of bodies under steel and concrete.
    It was not clear what caused the structure to come down.
    Five militants had been shot dead, Kenyatta said, and six security personnel died in the four days of fighting.
    Residents in the capital Nairobi say they are relieved that the crisis is over - and now want answers.

    "We want to know who these guys are. All we are being told is some of the attackers are dead and others have been arrested. We want proper investigations and the truth to be told, we should not start blaming people without knowing the truth," said James Opiyo.

    "Kenya is still safe despite this attack, this should not scare us off because it has happened to other countries and could happen to anyone. So, Kenyans should not be scared but should stand tall and keep fighting this war in Somalia. This event should not scare us, God will help us," said resident James Macharia.
    Sixty-one civilians had so far been confirmed dead, Kenyatta added. Kenyan officials declined to say how many of 63 people whom the Red Cross had earlier classed as unaccounted for may also have died in a showdown with guerrillas, who had threatened to kill their hostages and go down fighting.
    Eleven people suspected of involvement with the well-planned and executed assault were in custody, the Kenyan president added. But he did not say how many, if any, were gunmen taken alive and how many may have been people arrested elsewhere.
    It was also unclear whether intelligence reports of American or British gunmen would be confirmed. Al Shabaab denied that any women took part, after British sources said the fugitive widow of one of the 2005 London suicide bombers might have some role.
    The shattered mall, an imposing, Israeli-built symbol of a new prosperity for some in Africa while many remain mired in poverty, lay largely silent overnight, after days of gunfire, explosions and bloodshed.
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