On 21 September 2013, four masked gunmen attacked the
Westgate shopping mall, an
upscale mall in
Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
,
Kenya. There are conflicting reports about the number killed in the attack, since part of the mall collapsed due to a fire that started during the siege. The attack resulted in 71 total deaths, including 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers, and all four gunmen. Approximately 200 people were wounded in the
massacre.
The
extremist Islamic group
al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the incident, which it characterised as retribution for the
Kenyan military's deployment in the group's home country of
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
. Many media outlets also suspected the insurgent group's involvement in the attack based on earlier reprisal warnings it had issued in the wake of
Operation Linda Nchi
Operation Linda Nchi ( sw, Linda Nchi; "Protect the Country") had the Kenya Defence Forces enter southern Somalia beginning in 2011. The Kenyan government declared the operation completed in March 2012, but its forces then joined AMISOM in Som ...
from 2011 to 2012.
Kenyan authorities arrested dozens of people in the aftermath of the attack, but had not announced any suspects directly related to the siege. On 4 November 2013, a Kenyan court charged four Somali nationals with harbouring the gunmen in their homes, with each pleading not guilty.
On 20 September 2015, ''
Foreign Policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'' magazine reported the Westgate attack on 21 September lasted several hours, with the last victim killed before special Kenyan security forces entered the mall. The mall was officially declared secured on 24 September.
Background
The incident followed threats from
Al-Shabaab in late 2011 of attacks in
Kenya
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, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
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in retaliation for
Operation Linda Nchi
Operation Linda Nchi ( sw, Linda Nchi; "Protect the Country") had the Kenya Defence Forces enter southern Somalia beginning in 2011. The Kenyan government declared the operation completed in March 2012, but its forces then joined AMISOM in Som ...
, a coordinated military operation in southern
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
that was launched against the group by the
Somali Armed Forces
The Somali Armed Forces are the military forces of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Headed by the president as commander-in-chief, they are constitutionally mandated to ensure the nation's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Ch ...
and
Kenya Defence Forces
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) ( sw, Majeshi ya Ulinzi ya Kenya, stylized as "KENYA ARMED FORCES" capitalized on its coat of arms) are the armed forces of the Republic of Kenya. They are made up of the Kenya Army, Kenya Navy, and Kenya Air Forc ...
.
One week before the incident and a month after
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
warnings of possible attacks, Kenyan police claimed to have disrupted a major attack in its final stages of planning after arresting two people with grenades,
AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...
assault rifles, and suicide vests packed with
ball bearings
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.
The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...
. The two suspects were from a Nairobi neighbourhood where Somali immigrants live. A manhunt was also launched for eight more suspects.
''
The Sunday Telegraph
''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings.
It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
'' claimed that it had seen United Nations documents that warned that in the previous month the threat of an "attempted large-scale attack" in Kenya was "elevated."
After the incident, Nairobi senator
Mike Sonko
Mbuvi Gideon Kioko, commonly known as Mike Sonko or simply Sonko ( Sheng for "rich person" or "boss"),[International Day of Peace
The International Day of Peace, also officially known as World Peace Day, is a United Nations-sanctioned holiday observed annually on 21 September. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as migh ...](_blank)
when the incident took place.
Shootings and initial siege
![Onlookers of the Westgate incident from the roof of a nearby hotel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Onlookers_of_the_Westgate_incident_from_the_roof_of_a_nearby_hotel.jpg)
On Saturday 21 September 2013, at about noon,
at least four masked assailants (initially claimed by the government to be between 10 and 15) attacked the
Westgate shopping mall, the most
upscale mall in
Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
,
in its
Westlands
Westlands is an affluent, mixed-use commercial and residential neighbourhood in Nairobi.
Location
Westlands is located approximately , by road, northwest of the central business district of Nairobi. The geographical coordinates of the neighb ...
district.
Fighting with armed police continued over 48 hours later.
Cameras in the mall revealed the gunmen carried
assault rifles and wore civilian clothing. There were additional reports of
grenade
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...
explosions. Police surrounded the area and urged residents to stay away. A report indicated that about 80 people were trapped in the basement, but police said that they had escorted some shoppers to safety and were trying to capture the gunmen.
The Secretary-General of the
Kenya Red Cross Society
The Kenya Red Cross is one of the many International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement societies around the world. The Kenya organisation was established in 1965, The Kenya Red Cross supports and runs a number of projects whilst raising awaren ...
,
Abbas Gullet
Abbas Gullet is a Kenyan humanitarian worker who, since 2001, has been secretary general of the Kenya Red Cross Society.
Life and work
Gullet was born in Modogashe, Garissa, in 1959. Orphaned at an early age, he was adopted and raised by a fam ...
, said that rescue workers could not reach some of the patrons in the mall. Inspector General of Police
David Kimaiyo
David Mwole Kimaiyo (born July 1, 1960) is a Kenyan police officer. He was the first Inspector General of the Kenya Police, a position created by the 2010 Kenyan Constitution to replace the position of Police commissioner. He was the first Kenya ...
wrote that there were "police at the scene and the area
assurrounded."
Rob Van Dijk, an employee of the Dutch embassy, said that while he was eating at a restaurant the attack started with grenades and was followed by gunfire as patrons screamed and dropped to the ground. Other witnesses said the attack began at the outdoor seating area of Artcaffe at the front of the mall. An Artcaffe employee, Patrick Kuria, said: "We started by hearing gunshots downstairs and outside. Later we heard them come inside. We took cover. Then we saw two gunmen wearing black turbans. I saw them shoot." Some of the casualties were at the entrance to the mall after the assailants moved outside and a stand-off then commenced with police. Ambulances were present at the mall as rescuers started moving emerging victims. Reports indicated children were among the victims, and patrons that were carrying small children were among those trapped. Mall security guards used shopping carts to ferry out wounded children.
Nation TV
A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by thos ...
footage showed dozens of people escaping from a back entrance. Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...
correspondent Marco Lui was on the second floor of the mall when the attack started; he said that two explosions happened within about five minutes of each other. "We heard a noise from the ground floor and people started running to the parking area on the rooftop. They were panicking and then the second blast went off and people were even more panicked." Other eyewitnesses said that in addition to grenades, the attackers used AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...
s. Twenty people were rescued from a toy shop on the upper floor. As the Kenyan army troops arrived, they used tear gas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...
to try to smoke out the attackers from the cinema complex. Vehicles riddled with bullet holes were left abandoned in front of the mall. Kimaiyo said: "Our officers are on the ground carrying out an evacuation of those inside as they search for the attackers who are said to be inside." A police officer said that the gunmen were barricaded inside the Nakumatt
Nakumatt was a Kenyan supermarket chain. "Nakumatt" is an abbreviation for Nakuru Mattress.
Overview
, Nakumatt had 65 stores in the African Great Lakes countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. It employed over 5,500, and had gross an ...
supermarket. He indicated that there were three bodies there while he pointed to a pool of blood by a children's shoe shop. He then pointed to a hamburger bar where music still played and indicated more bodies were found there.
Rescue efforts
Goran Tomasevic
Goran Tomašević ( sr-cyr, Горан Томашевић; born 1969), is a Serbian photographer. Working for Reuters, he has spent more than 20 years travelling around the globe to cover the world's biggest stories.
Tomašević's award-winning ...
, Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
chief photographer for East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
, recorded the first few hours of the attacks in which he described extremely distressed people including children, women and men bleeding from the impact of shrapnel and gunshots. Abdul Yusuf Haji, son of former Defence Minister of Kenya Mohamed Yusuf Haji
Mohamed Yusuf Haji ( so, Maxamed Yuusuf Xaaji) (23 December 1940 – 15 February 2021) was a Kenyan politician. He was the Minister of Defence of Kenya from 2008 to 2013, and briefly served as its acting Minister of Internal Security and Provinc ...
, on receiving text messages from his brother Noordin Yusuf Haji, an undercover anti-terrorism agent who was stuck inside the shopping center, travelled to the mall with his handgun and entered with other civilian rescuers. He helped rescue a mother and her three daughters, providing cover with other armed rescuers. Tomasevic's photos of the rescue efforts by civilians were beamed all around the world.
Several other armed and unarmed civilians also participated in various rescues. An ex-SAS man, a former member of (ARW) Irish Army Ranger Wing (L.B.) and an off duty member of Diplomatic Protective Services Tactical Response Unit (DPS-TRU) and former British Armed Forces Major Dominic Troulan helped to save lives. They were working as security consultants and they raced to the Westgate mall when al-Shabaab gunmen went on the rampage. Under fire, they organised the rescue of terrified shoppers. There are several similarities between this rescue by civilians and members of elite forces and the rescue
at Nairobi DusitD2 complex attack.
By nightfall, the mall remained sealed off to the public while security services searched floor by floor for the gunmen, believed to still be inside with the hostages. People continued to trickle out from hiding places. Internal Security Minister Mutea Iringo
Mutea Iringo is a Kenyan politician who is a former Principal Secretary, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, to the Cabinet of Kenya
The Cabinet of the Republic of Kenya is made up of the President, Deputy President, ...
then said that the government was in control of the situation. Kimaiyo also wrote that several of the other assailants had been pinned down after security forces moved into the mall. President Uhuru Kenyatta
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022.
Kenyatta was chosen by Daniel Arap Moi as his preferred successor, but Kenyatta was defeated by opposition le ...
said the security operation was "delicate" and that a top priority was to safeguard hostages. At about 2:30 – an hour after reporting five "visibly shaken" hostages' release – the National Disaster Operation Centre (NDOC) wrote that "major operations underway."
The next evening, after nightfall, over 24 hours after the beginning of the attack, gunfire was still heard at the mall. The military spokesman, Colonel Cyrus Oguna, said that most of the hostages had been released, saying that they were "dehydrated and suffering from shock;" he added that four Kenyan soldiers were injured in the rescue operation. Scores of by-standers gathered by the mall as the operations continued. The NDOC forecast that the operation would end that night. Kenyatta said to the nation that "the criminals are now all located in one place within the building...We have as good a chance to successfully neutralise the terrorists as we can hope for". He also called for patience and said that he had received "numerous offers of assistance from friendly countries." On 23 September, Lenku assured that "we are doing anything reasonably possible, cautiously though, to bring this process to an end", and said that at least three al-Shabab fighters were killed and ten Kenyan soldiers wounded. Eleven other soldiers were also injured that day, and three Kenyan commandos were shot at close range. It was also reported that three floors of the mall collapsed during the attack, trapping some bodies inside.
On the night of 23/24 September, there was a lull in firing, but it resumed in the early morning hours. As the day progressed, police said that they were conducting a final sweep of the complex as the interior ministry released a statement that said the four-day-long assault was "very near the end." The gunmen were still inside. He vowed "full accountability for the mindless destruction, deaths, pain, loss and suffering we have all undergone." The Kenyan Red Cross said that 63 people were still missing. In Nairobi, daily business returned to normal; appeals replenished blood bank
A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a Clinical Pathology laborat ...
s, and over US$650,000 was raised to support the affected families.
Israeli involvement
At the time of the attacks, the mall was owned by Israelis, and at least four restaurants in the mall were owned/operated by Israelis, according to Israeli sources. The ''International Business Times
The ''International Business Times'' is an American online news publication that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on busi ...
'' stated that Kenya and Israel had a secret security pact. Israeli military advisers were reported to have participated in the counter-offensive
In the study of military tactics, a counter-offensive is a large-scale strategic offensive military operation, usually by forces that had successfully halted the enemy's offensive, while occupying defensive positions.
The counter-offensive is ...
against the hostage takers and to have joined in the fighting, although the Israeli Foreign Ministry
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַחוּץ, translit. ''Misrad HaHutz''; ar, وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية) is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's ...
refused to confirm or deny the presence of its forces.
Looting
In the days following the initial attack, Kenyan soldiers were sent in the mall to rescue people inside and find the gunmen. Yet when the soldiers were sent in, many of them were caught on camera looting almost every shop in the mall while it was besieged. Two soldiers were arrested and jailed for looting mobile phones and several others were questioned.
Victims
During the siege and for days afterwards, the toll of casualties remained unclear. Eyewitnesses were reported to have seen 50 bodies in the mall. In addition, at first there were reported hostages taken by attackers, but later it became apparent no hostages were ever held, other eyewitnesses also said that they had seen dozens wounded. An unnamed local hospital reported that it was overwhelmed with the number of wounded being brought in and that it had consequently diverted victims to a second facility. At least 71 people were killed, including four terrorists. In addition to numerous Kenyans who were killed, at least 19 foreigners of different nationalities also died. The National Disaster Operation Centre said that the wounded ranged in age from 2 to 78. Sources said 175 people were wounded, including 11 soldiers. There are also claims of torture carried out by the terrorists. Notable victims included Kenyan journalist Ruhila Adatia-Sood
Ruhila Adatia-Sood (29 August 1982 – 21 September 2013) was a Kenyan television and radio presenter and journalist of Indian heritage.
Ruhila Adatia was born and brought up in Kitisuru, Nairobi. She graduated from Aga Khan Academy, Nairobi, and ...
, President Uhuru Kenyatta's nephew Mbugua Mwangi and his fiancée Rosemary Wahito, Ghanaian poet and diplomat Kofi Awoonor
Kofi Awoonor (born George Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor-Williams; 13 March 1935 – 21 September 2013) was a Ghanaian poet and author whose work combined the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people and contemporary and religious symbolism to depict A ...
and Canadian diplomat Annemarie Desloges. Kenyan interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku
Joseph Jama Ole Lenku (born 20 October 1970) is a Kenyan politician who was the second Governor of Kajiado County after winning in the Kenyan General Elections on 8 August 2017 and lost his seat in the 2022 General elections held on 8 August. ...
said Israelis were not targeted. "This time, the story is not about Israel. The minister is saying that this is an internal Kenyan issue. His security forces tell him that this terror organisation was not targeting Israelis."
Most of the victims were from Kenya’s business and political elite, as well as expatriates and the diplomatic community.
Investigation
British police officers based in Kenya arrived on the scene to help Kenyan counter-terrorism officials, and Kenyan officials began an investigation. Security was also tightened in public places across Kenya. Ten arrests were reported on 24 September. In announcing the end of operations, Kenyatta said "forensic investigations are underway to establish the nationalities of all those involved" and suggested that a British woman and two or three Americans "may have been involved in the attack" but that could not be confirmed at the time. Kenyan Defence Chief, General Julius Karangi
Julius Waweru Karangi (born 28 April 1951) is a retired military officer from Kenya who was Chief of the General Staff of the Kenya Defence Forces from 2011 until 2015.
Military career
Julius Karangi joined the Kenya Air Force in 1973. He traine ...
, said the attackers were from "different countries."
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) was strongly criticised for failing to warn of the attack after ''The Star
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' reported that two unnamed NIS officers had told it that the NIS had passed warnings about an attack to the police, and that a pregnant woman had been warned by her brother, an NIS officer, not to visit the Westgate mall that Saturday "because she would not be able to run with her bulging tummy". ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' reported that Kenya had prior intelligence of an attack in Nairobi, and that there were reports of NIS agents being at Westgate a few hours before the attack. From its start, the investigation was hampered by a wide range of conflicting eyewitness testimony about the number of attackers, the gunmen's true identities, and even their ultimate fates. Over sixty persons were listed by the Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
as missing
Missing or The Missing may refer to:
Film
* ''Missing'' (1918 film), an American silent drama directed by James Young
* ''Missing'' (1982 film), an American historical drama directed by Costa-Gavras
* ''Missing'' (2007 film) (''Vermist''), a Bel ...
, though police asserted that they were all among the dead; in news reports, some have been described as additional terrorists who escaped alive, though the Kenyan government firmly denies this.[
It was reported on 10 October that the police, army, and intelligence services had been engaging in "blame games" after the attack. Some international forensic teams had reportedly returned home, frustrated that they were not allowed full access to the mall.]
Perpetrators
Initially, the Ministry of Interior said: "It is a possibility that it is an attack by terrorists, so we are treating the matter very seriously." Nairobi police chief Benson Kibue called the incident a "terrorist" attack and added that there were likely no more than 10 perpetrators involved. Senator Billow Kerow
Billow Kerrow (born 1958, Rhamu) is a Kenyan politician from Mandera County. He served as a Member of Parliament for Mandera Central constituency from 2002 - 2007 and as the first Senator of Mandera county from 2013 - 2017. Billow Kerrow also serve ...
from Mandera County
Mandera County is the northeasternmost county in Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Mandera. The county is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the east and Wajir County to the southwest. According to the 2019 census, the county ha ...
, Nairobi said: "It's too early to know what kind of people these are, but from what we are getting, these are people who speak in the Swahili language
Swahili, also known by its local name , is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent litoral islands). It is a Bantu language, though Swahili ...
. They are people who seem to know what they are doing, are pretty much organised. It's really quite a shocking thing because from what we're getting, they aren't ordinary thugs."
An eyewitness said that the attackers had told Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s to leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted. Others were asked to name the mother of the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
to distinguish Muslims from non-Muslims. They also distinguished Muslims from non-Muslims by asking others to recite the '' shahadah''. To Associated Press, the al-Shabaab called it "a meticulous vetting process ... to separate the Muslims from the Kuffar
Kafir ( ar, كافر '; plural ', ' or '; feminine '; feminine plural ' or ') is an Arabic and Islamic term which, in the Islamic tradition, refers to a person who disbelieves in God as per Islam, or denies his authority, or rejects ...
". Gunmen were seen on CCTV talking on mobile phones and bowing down in Islamic prayer between their attacks.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku said that between 10 and 15 gunmen were involved in the attack and that Kenyan forces had control of security cameras installed inside the shopping complex. Witnesses who managed to escape also asserted that they heard some of the gunmen speaking either Arabic or Somali. After several hours, Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Kenya's Capital FM, one attacker is reported to have escaped after a witness spotted him mingling with the victims as they were being rescued. Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed
Amina Chawahir Mohamed Jibril ( so, Aamina Maxamed Jibriil; ar, أمينة محمد جبريل), born 5 October 1961, is a former Kenyan cabinet secretary, lawyer and a diplomat of Somali descent. She is the immediate former Cabinet Secretary ...
said that Al-Shabaab was not acting alone and the assault was part of an international campaign of terror; and that "two or three" US citizens and a Briton were among the attackers. "Al-Shabab icare looking for relevance on an international scale – especially after a change of leadership – and is looking to send the message that they are still a force to be reckoned with." The suggestion that there had been a British perpetrator in their ranks was strongly rejected by Al-Shabaab. Kenyan officials later lowered the estimated number of gunmen to four to six militants. Among the shooters, a military spokesman named Abu Baara al Sudani (a Sudanese national), Omar Nabhan (a Kenyan Arab), Khattab al Kene (a Somali from Mogadishu), and Umayr (of unidentified background). Norway's intelligence agency, the PST, later announced in early October that it had sent officers to Kenya to investigate reports alleging that a Norwegian citizen of Somali origin, named as Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow (1990 – 22 September 2013) was a Norwegian-Somalian Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist and Al-Shabaab (militant group), Al-Shabaab-member who was one of four perpetrators of the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Nair ...
, was also involved in the planning and execution of the attack. The 23-year-old Dhuhulow was in 2015 confirmed to have been a perpetrator and to have died during the attack. Having migrated to Norway in 1999, Dhuhulow had previously been under surveillance by PST. On 18 October it was reported that two bodies found in the ruins of part of the centre, with AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...
rifles beside them, were likely to be those of two of the attackers.
Before it was banned, a Twitter account claiming to represent al-Shabaab posted a series of messages alleging that the attacks were "just retribution" for crimes committed by Kenya's military. "For long we have waged war against the Kenyans in our land, now it's time to shift the battleground and take the war to their land", said one post. "The attack at #WestgateMall is just a very tiny fraction of what Muslims in Somalia experience at the hands of Kenyan invaders," said another. They warned the Kenyan government that any attempt by Kenyan forces to attempt a roof landing would jeopardise the lives of hostages. Twitter suspended the account before the attack had ended.
A group spokesman, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, said: "If you want Kenya in peace, it will not happen as long as your boys are in omalia" Another Al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Abu Muscab, told Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
that the attack was in retaliation for Kenyan troops entering Somalia and that the timing was deliberately chosen to be a surprise attack. al-Shabaab repeated their demands for Kenya's withdrawal from Somalia. On the day the operation ended, Rage threatened further "black days" unless Kenya withdrew its troops from Somalia and said that the siege was just "a taste of what we will do."
Kenyan authorities arrested dozens of people in the aftermath of the attack, but had not announced any suspects directly related to the siege. On 4 November 2013, four individuals reported to be Somali nationals were charged by a Kenyan court in relation to the attack. Identified as Mohammed Ahmed Abdi, Liban Abdullah, Adnan Ibrahim and Hussein Hassan, they were accused of supporting terrorist elements in Kenya, harboring the gunmen in their homes, illicitly registering as a Kenyan citizen, and obtaining false identification documents. However, none of the men were accused of being the shooters involved in the siege, the latter of whom Kenyan military officials asserted had all died. All four of the accused men pleaded not guilty to the allegations, with no attorney representing them. The court ordered the men to be detained until a hearing in a week's time.
A separate investigation of the attack was conducted by the New York Police Department (NYPD). The report's findings, released in December, 2013, suggested that the attack had been carried out by only four Al-Shabaab terrorists, all of whom most likely escaped the mall alive. However, an investigation conducted between Kenyan and US State Department officials suggested that while there were only four gunmen who carried out the attack, they were all likely killed during the standoff. Lt. Kevin Yorke of the NYPD's Intelligence Division also acknowledged that the NYPD investigation, which did not have representatives among the group of western investigators assisting Kenya with the probe, was "based solely on open-source information we gathered and is unclassified."
The Al-Shabaab member believed to have been the 'mastermind' behind the mall attack, Adan Garar, was reported as being killed after a drone strike on 12 March 2015. Garar was in a vehicle hit by a missile near the town of Dinsoor
Dinsoor ( so, Diinsoor) is a town in the southwestern Bay region of Somalia.Waaxda Dhexe ee Istaatistikada, p.18 It is the center of the Dinsoor District.
Demographics
Dinsoor has a population of around 28,000 inhabitants. The broader Dinsoor Dis ...
in southern Somalia.
On October 7, 2020, a Kenyan court sentenced three defendants accused of helping Islamic militants in 2013 in preparation for an attack on Nairobi’s shopping mall. More than 140 witnesses were heard in the case before the verdict was handed down. In the verdict, Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi ruled that Hussein Hassan Mustafa and Mohammed Ahmed Abdi found guilty of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act. In the case of the third defendant, there was not enough evidence to prove the conspiracy charge, so he was acquitted. Earlier, in January 2019, an accused had also been acquitted in the same case for lack of evidence. However, after proving the prosecution's charge, Otsieno Namwaya, a senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, claimed that neither the attackers nor the masterminds had been brought to justice now, the convicts were only bystanders in the case.
Reactions
Domestic
The attack has been described as one of the worst acts of terrorism in Kenya
Many terrorist attacks have occurred in Kenya during the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1980, the Jewish-owned Norfolk hotel was attacked by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In 1998, the US embassy was bombed in Nairobi, as was the Isr ...
since the bombing of the U.S. embassy in 1998.[ ]President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Uhuru Kenyatta
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022.
Kenyatta was chosen by Daniel Arap Moi as his preferred successor, but Kenyatta was defeated by opposition le ...
said on national television that Kenya had "overcome terrorist attacks before" and vowed to "hunt down the perpetrators wherever they run".
On 10 October 2013, it was reported that President Kenyatta had admitted that the Westgate operation was "bungled", and undertook to carry out a complete investigation. The Kenyan Cabinet was expected to establish a formal commission of inquiry.
International bodies
The African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
's Chairperson of the African Union Commission
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission is the head of the African Union Commission. On January 30, 2017, it was announced that Chad's Moussa Faki
Moussa Faki Mahamat ( ar, موسى فكي محمد ', born 21 June 1960) is a Chadian pol ...
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma (née Dlamini; born 27 January 1949), sometimes referred to by her initials NDZ, is a South African politician, medical doctor and former anti-apartheid activist. A longstanding member of the African National Cong ...
condemned the attacks and reiterated that the AU would continue in its fight against al-Shabaab. She also expressed the AU's solidarity with the government and people of Kenya. The European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
offered its support. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "alarm" and offered Kenyatta solidarity. The United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
condemned the attack and called on Kenya to note that any response must comply with international human rights law.
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
Secretary-General Ronald Noble
Ronald Kenneth "Ron" Noble (born September 24, 1956) is an American law enforcement officer who served as the secretary-general of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) from 2000 to 2014. He was the organization's first Ame ...
condemned the assault and pledged full support to Kenyan authorities in their investigation, offering to deploy an Incident Response Team consisting of specialised forensic officers, counter-terrorism experts, operational assistants and analysts. Noble, in an interview with ABC, indicated that in the face of large 'soft' targets, governments have a choice: security clearances at entrances or allow the citizenry to carry guns for self-defence.
States
Many countries expressed their condemnation of the attacks and sympathy for those affected, including Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
, Hungary, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Serbia, Somalia, Tanzania, the United States, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. Some restated their condemnation during the .
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ( so, Xasan Sheekh Maxamuud, ar, حسن شيخ محمود; born 29 November 1955) is a Somali politician who has served as the president of Somalia since May 2022. He is the founder and current chairman of the Union for P ...
condemned the "heartless acts against defenceless civilians" and pledged to "stand shoulder to shoulder with Kenya." He also cautioned against prejudgement, saying that "we don't have any proof that the people who did this are Somali."
King Mohammed VI of Morocco
Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد السادس; born 21 August 1963) is the King of Morocco. He belongs to the 'Alawi dynasty and acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II.
Upon ascending to the throne, Moham ...
expressed "profound emotion and indignation"; Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete
Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (born 7 October 1950) is a Tanzanian politician who was the fourth president of Tanzania, in office from 2005 to 2015. Prior to his election as president, he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2005 under his ...
and South African President Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...
also expressed condolences and reiterated support for Kenyan and international efforts "aimed at peacekeeping, stability, democracy and nation-building in Somalia." Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (; SADR; also romanized with Saharawi; ar, الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية ' es, República Árabe Saharaui Democrática), also known as Western Sahara, is a p ...
President and Secretary-General of the Polisario Front
The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس ...
, Mohamed Abdelaziz expressed "sadness and dismay about the shocking and cowardly massacre" and offered his country's "deepest condolences" and "heartfelt sympathy".
See also
*1998 United States embassy bombings
The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 200 people were killed in nearly simultaneous truck bomb explosions in two East African cities, one at the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam, ...
*2002 Mombasa attacks
The 2002 Mombasa attacks was a two-pronged terrorist attack on 28 November 2002 in Mombasa, Kenya against an Israeli-owned hotel and a plane belonging to Arkia Airlines. An all-terrain vehicle crashed through a barrier outside the Paradise Hote ...
* 2011–14 terrorist attacks in Kenya
*2013 Nairobi bus attack
On 14 December 2013, a hand grenade was thrown onto a minibus in Eastleigh, Nairobi, Eastleigh, a Somali people, Somali-dominated suburb in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. The explosion killed at least 4 people and wounded 36 others. It was the fou ...
*2019 Nairobi hotel attack
}
The 2019 DusitD2 complex attack was a terrorist attack that occurred from 15 to 16 January 2019 in the Westlands area of Nairobi, Kenya, which left 22 civilians and all five terrorists dead.
Background
The Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab has ...
*Robert Alai
Robert Alai, HSC is a Kenyan blogger and cyber-activist. Alai, who used to run the now defunct information technology weblog at Techmtaa.com has earned notoriety for his stream of social rants. He has been sued and briefly incarcerated for his ...
*Garissa University College attack
On 2 April 2015, gunmen stormed the Garissa University College in Garissa, Kenya, killing 148 people, and injuring 79 or more. The militant group and Al-Qaeda spinoff Al-Shabaab, which the gunmen claimed to be from, took responsibility for the a ...
*List of Islamist terrorist attacks
The following is a list of Islamist terrorist attacks.
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*Terrorism in Kenya
Many terrorist attacks have occurred in Kenya during the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1980, the Jewish-owned Norfolk hotel was attacked by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In 1998, the US embassy was bombed in Nairobi, as was the Isr ...
References
External links
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{{Al-Qaeda
2013 mass shootings in Africa
2010s in Nairobi
Attacks on supermarkets
Attacks on tourists
Al-Shabaab (militant group) attacks
Filmed killings
Hate crimes
Hostage taking
Islamic terrorism in Kenya
Islamic terrorist incidents in 2013
Mass murder in 2013
Mass murder in Nairobi
Mass shootings in Africa
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Terrorist incidents in Kenya in 2013
2013 Westgate shopping mall attack
2013 murders in Kenya
21st-century mass murder in Africa
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