Nairobi Westgate shoot-out: 11 dead, still counting
Few days after Somali militant threatened to strike the Westgate centre in Nairobi,Kenya, gunmen have attacked killing over at least 11 people, according to the Kenyan Red Cross. Dozens of shoppers have fled and many are still feared trapped inside.
Al-Shabaab, the Somali millitant group has confirmed to @AJELive that it has claimed responsibility for the Westgate mall attack in Nairobi, KenyaThe Nairobi
Police Chief Benson Kibue who formerly said it was an attempted robbery. The Police have surrounded the Centre in an attempt to evacuate remaining shoppers and say that gunmen had taken at least seven people hostage while Dozens of people are reported to have been injured.
Eyewitnesses say the attack began when masked attackers threw grenades into the building at about midday local time (09:00 GMT).At about 15:30 GMT, more than six hours after the attack began, the Kenyan Secretary for the Interior Joseph ole Lenku has said the security situation was “under control” and that the public should not speculate about the nature of the attack as most people had been evacuated.
“Nobody, including myself, is willing to call this a terrorist attack at this point” according to John Allan Namu, a social commentor said. Another Kenyan Citizen who escaped said,”I could hear the gunfire moving towards the main entrance of the shopping mall, so some people ran out of our cafe in a kind of panic, and quite a number just fell down as flat as possible on the ground.” Another Nairobi resident, Anupa, who lives near the scene, told the BBC: “I heard the exchange of fire when it happened, and I heard what I thought was a grenade, but I didn’t go outside. The whole area is cordoned off.”
An Armed police who took cover behind vehicles outside said,”We have officers at the scene trying to get out the group shooting inside.Officers are approaching the situation with caution because there are innocent civilians inside.”
The Westgate centre is often frequented by wealthy Kenyans and expatriates. Police have urged residents to stay away from the area and told media outlets to stop live transmissions from the scene,as the information may be aiding the attackers.