Kenya: Westgate Mall now under government control
By Busolami Idowu
Government says all hostages believed to be freed, as troops comb Westgate mall building to end siege that left 62 dead. The interior ministry has announced that troops are “in control” of the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi.
“Our special forces are inside the building checking the rooms. We think that everyone, the hostages, have been evacuated, but we don’t want to take any chances,” A government spokesman told AFP news agency He said special forces combing the building were no longer encountering any resistance.
The claim was corroborated by a twitter message from interior Ministry “We’re in control of Westgate,”
The Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has described Shabab as a threat to the world. “They are a threat to the continent of Africa, and the world at large,”
In February 2012, Al-Shabab and al-Qaeda announced their alliance. Abu Omar, a Somali-a-based al-Shabab commander, confirmed that his group is taking orders from al-Qaeda.
Al-Shabab said the carnage was in retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia.
“If you want Kenya in peace, it will not happen as long as your boys are in our lands,” rebel spokesman Ali Mohamud said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s foreign minister, Amina Mohamed, said Al-shabab is not acting alone and that it was part of an international terrorism campaign,
Mohamed further said that “two or three” Americans and one Briton were among the attackers.
At least 11 Kenyan troops were wounded in intense gun battles on Monday, during the siege operation the army said. Police have also arrested more than 10 people for questioning.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose nephew was killed along with his fiancee, called the attack “despicable and beastly”.
World powers condemned the chilling attack, the worst in Nairobi since an al-Qaeda bombing at the US embassy killed more than 200 people in 1998.