67 dead in Kenya Mall Massacre; Americans among 175 wounded

[jimmy olsen]

 Just terrible

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/21/20618440-at-least-39-dead-in-kenya-shopping-mall-attack-americans-among-scores-hurt?lite

At least 39 dead in Kenya shopping mall attack; Americans among scores hurt

By Patrick Garrity and Simon Moya-Smith, NBC News

Gunmen stormed a crowded shopping mall frequented by Westerners on Saturday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in a terror attack, leaving at least 39 dead, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said. The U.S. State Department said American citizens were reportedly among the approximately 150 injured.

The militant Islamic group al-Shabab, based in neighboring Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack via Twitter, saying it was in retaliation "for the lives of innocent Muslims" killed by Kenyan forces leading an African Union offensive against al-Shabab.

Manish Turohit, 18, who hid in a parking garage for two hours before leaving in a line of 15 people who exited with their hands in the air to avoid being shot, told al-Jazeera that gunmen carrying AK-47s and wearing vests with hand grenades on them stormed into the mall

"They just came in and threw a grenade," he said. "We were running and they opened fire. They were shouting and firing."

Another unnamed witness quoted by the Associated Press said an unknown number of gunmen entered the mall around noon local time and told Muslims to stand up and leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted.

After the initial onslaught, police helicopters circled above the mall as armed police shouted "get out! get out!" and scores of shoppers fled the building, Reuters reported. Smoke poured out of one entrance and witnesses said they heard grenade blasts.

Joseph Ole Lenku, Kenya's Secretary for Defense and Internal Affairs, later said government security forces had taken over the mall and that the situation was "under control," but gunfire was heard several hours after the attack began and al-Shabab claimed its fighters were still inside battling the government forces.

In a televised address to the nation late Saturday, President Kenyatta said at least 39 people had been killed, including some of his "very close family members," and 150 injured.

"The despicable perpetrators of this cowardly act hoped to intimidate, divide and cause despondency amongst Kenyans,'' he said. "We have overcome terrorist attacks before. We will defeat them again.'"

In Washington, the White House and State Department condemned the attack and promised to help the Kenyan government bring the perpetrators to justice.

"We will continue to stand with the Kenyan people in their efforts to confront terrorism in all its forms, including the threat posed by al-Shabab," the White House said in a statement. "This cowardly act against innocent civilians will not shake our resolve."

In a statement issued Saturday evening, a State Department official said the agency has received "reports that four U.S. citizens have been injured in the attack. ... Our consular officers have been in contact with the victims and have been providing all appropriate consular assistance." The official declined further comment, citing privacy concerns.

Federal sources told NBC News that the FBI had accounted for all U.S. Embassy personnel, none of whom were believed to have been at the mall at the time.

In a later update, however, the State Department said one of the dead was the wife of a foreign service national working for the U.S. Agency for International Development. U.S.AID is part of the State Department and works out of the U.S. Embassy.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said two Canadian citizens were among the dead, including a diplomat. He did not identify either. France also said two of its citizens were dead

Al-Shabab tweeted that the attack was "retribution." The group vowed in late 2011  to carry out a large-scale attack in Nairobi in retaliation for Kenya's sending troops into Somalia to fight the Islamic insurgents.

The Westgate mall, a popular spot for wealthy Kenyans and tourists, appeared chosen to maximize the global impact of the assault.

Formally named Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahideen (HSM), but commonly known as al-Shabab, the group has been fighting to overthrow the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which is supported by the African Union and Western nations, since its founding in 2004. Designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and other Western governments, the group is aligned with al Qaeda and aims to establish an Islamist government in Somalia.

NBC News' Richard Esposito, Charlene Gubash, Andrea Mitchell and Kristen Welker; WNBC's Jonathan Dienst; and Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[CountDeMoney]

Obviously, Islamic fundies have a problem with the infidel Mrs. Fields Cookies at the food court.  Allah Snackbar!

[PDH]

Allah Snackbar!

You have been waiting to use that for a long time I bet...

[CountDeMoney]

C'mon, that one's awesome.

[Admiral Yi]

You left the u off of Allahu.

[PDH]

 

It was good, but we are a tough audience.

[jimmy olsen]

C'mon, that one's awesome.

Yes, yes it was.

[CountDeMoney]

You left the u off of Allahu.

SON OF A

I'll make up for it the next time they go after an Orange Jewlius.

[11B4V]

Gunmen stormed a crowded shopping mall frequented by Westerners on Saturday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in a terror attack, leaving at least 39 dead, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said. The U.S. State Department said American citizens were reportedly among the approximately 150 injured.

The militant Islamic group al-Shabab, based in neighboring Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack via Twitter, saying it was in retaliation "for the lives of innocent Muslims" killed by Kenyan forces leading an African Union offensive against al-Shabab.

Manish Turohit, 18, who hid in a parking garage for two hours before leaving in a line of 15 people who exited with their hands in the air to avoid being shot, told al-Jazeera that gunmen carrying AK-47s and wearing vests with hand grenades on them stormed into the mall

Obviously a gun control problem.

[Razgovory]

Gunmen stormed a crowded shopping mall frequented by Westerners on Saturday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in a terror attack, leaving at least 39 dead, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said. The U.S. State Department said American citizens were reportedly among the approximately 150 injured.

The militant Islamic group al-Shabab, based in neighboring Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack via Twitter, saying it was in retaliation "for the lives of innocent Muslims" killed by Kenyan forces leading an African Union offensive against al-Shabab.

Manish Turohit, 18, who hid in a parking garage for two hours before leaving in a line of 15 people who exited with their hands in the air to avoid being shot, told al-Jazeera that gunmen carrying AK-47s and wearing vests with hand grenades on them stormed into the mall

Obviously a gun control problem.

Well, yeah.  Guns smuggling around Somalia has long been a problem.

[jimmy olsen]

Caulties up to 68 dead, 175 wounded
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/22/world/africa/kenya-mall-attack/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-21/kenya-nairobi-mall-shooting-terrorist-group-in-deadly-attack/4973210

[jimmy olsen]

Five Americans involved!? 

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/23/20654343-closing-in-on-the-attackers-gunfire-blasts-as-bloody-kenya-mall-siege-enters-3rd-day?lite

'Closing in on the attackers': Gunfire, blasts as bloody Kenya mall siege enters 3rd day

By Alexander Smith, NBC News contributor

Gunfire and explosions were heard at a shopping mall in Kenya's capital early Monday as a hostage standoff which has left at least 68 people dead entered its third day.

The FBI said it was investigating reports that as many as five Americans were among the group of al Qaeda-linked terrorists who raided the Westgate mall in Nairobi on Saturday.

The military-style, lunchtime assault by squads of attackers hurling grenades and spraying automatic fire also resulted in at least 175 injuries, including many children.

A military official said late Sunday that "most" of the hostages had been freed.

David Kimaiyo, the inspector general of Kenya's police, posted on his Twitter account Monday that there had been further rescues overnight and "very few are remaining."

He added: "We are also closing in on the attackers."

Kenyan security forces were being assisted by Israeli and Western experts. "We will not negotiate with terrorists," said Colonel Cyrus Oguna, a Kenyan military spokesman.

Late on Sunday, Kenya's National Disaster Operation Centre said on Twitter that "this will end tonight. Our forces will prevail."

However, Kenyan Red Cross official Abbas Guled told Reuters there had been clashes inside the building after daybreak on Monday, and journalists said they heard heavy bursts of gunfire from inside the building, which features several Israeli-owned shops.

An al-Shabab spokesman claimed Kenyan security forces had attempted an unsuccessful raid on the complex.

"Israelis and Kenyan forces have tried to enter Westgate by force but they could not," Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage said in an online audio statement. "The mujahedeen will kill the hostages if the enemies use force."

Al-Shabab said the attack, which targeted non-Muslims, was in retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighboring Somalia.

Reuters said the group of terrorists numbered between 10 and 15. Witnesses said the attackers had AK-47 rifles and wore ammunition belts.

One woman, who gave her name as Cecilia as she emerged from the mall Sunday, told Reuters she had seen three of the attackers.

"They were shooting from the exit ramp, shooting everywhere," she said. "I saw people being shot all around me, some with blood pouring from bad wounds. I was just praying, praying, 'God, keep me alive' and that my day hadn't come."

Video taken by someone inside the mall's main department store when the assault began also emerged. The video showed frightened and unsure shoppers crouching as long and loud volleys of gunfire could be heard.

"My father was sitting down for coffee with his brother when they heard gunfire coming from the street," one Kenyan told the U.K.'s Independent newspaper after escaping the mall with his family. "They immediately hit the ground and then heard three loud explosions. The people at the next table were all shot and died."

Several British newspapers such as the Daily Mail suggested that the notorious "White Widow" – a British Islamic convert called Samantha Lewthwaite whose husband was one of the July 7, 2005 bombings targeting London's public transport network – was behind the attack. She is known to have spent time in Kenya.

However, the British Foreign Office said it is unwilling to speculate on Lewthwaite's involvement.

This weekend's assault is the biggest attack in Kenya since al Qaeda's East Africa cell bombed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, killing more than 200 people.

No U.S. citizens have been reported dead, although five Americans have been injured. Several foreigners, including three Britons and a Canadian, were killed. "We should prepare ourselves for further bad news," British Prime Minister David Cameron said.

Elaine Dang, 26, was among the Americans injured in the attack, NBC San Diego reported.

Kenya sent troops into Somalia in October 2011 to pursue militants whom it accused of kidnapping tourists and attacking its security forces.

Al-Shabab's last big attack outside Somalia was a double bombing in Uganda, targeting people watching the World Cup final on television in Kampala in 2010, killing 77 people.

[Syt]

Five Americans involved!? 

How else would they get all those guns?

[jimmy olsen]

Three large explosions, the mall is in flames and echoing gunfire as the police and army storm the building! 

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/23/20654343-closing-in-on-the-attackers-gunfire-blasts-as-bloody-kenya-mall-siege-enters-3rd-day?lite

Three large explosions were heard at a shopping mall in Kenya's capital early Monday as a hostage standoff which left at least 68 people dead entered its third day.

The blasts occurred shortly after 6 a.m. ET. Black smoke was also seen billowing from the complex. Heavy bursts of gunfire had been heard early Monday.

[CountDeMoney]

I was at a mall the other day, and checking out the Vans store.

Hilarious to see the classic black-and-white checkered slip-ons, the same ones I was buying in 1983.  Do the kids still write on them these days?