21 dead as al-Qaida attack on hotel quelled

Kenyan forces ended an Islamist militant siege at a hotel and office complex in the capital that left at least 21 people dead and highlighted the threat still posed by al-Qaida-linked fighters to East Africa’s largest economy.

Using hand grenades, automatic rifles and a suicide-bomber, the militants stormed 14 Riverside in Nairobi on Tuesday afternoon, a venue popular with business travelers and Kenya’s elites and home to offices of companies including Pernod Ricard SA and Dow Chemical East Africa Ltd. That precipitated an 18-hour siege around the DusitD2 hotel, which President Uhuru Kenyatta said ended about 9 a.m. Wednesday with the attackers dead.

Somalia-based al-Shabaab took responsibility for the assault, the latest in a recent wave of jihadist strikes across Africa, including in Nigeria and Mali, which a loose coalition of African, Western and United Nation troops are struggling to stop.

It’s al-Shabaab’s first significant assault in Kenya since it killed 147 people at a northeastern university in April 2015 and echoed a September 2013 attack on Nairobi’s Westgate mall that left 67 dead and rocked the tourism industry.

“Al-Shabaab has selected a target that is highly symbolic of Kenya’s economic success and its latest attack is aimed at undermining foreign investment and the recovery of the country’s tourism sector,” said Robert Besseling, executive director of EXX Africa.

“The latest attack on foreigners, international companies, and hotel assets is likely to trigger a fresh review of travel advisories,” he said.

Kenya, a regional hub for companies such as General Electric Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., has previously felt the economic impact from attacks that curbed tourism — one of its main generators of foreign exchange. The industry has recovered in recent years, with earnings climbing about a third year-on-year in 2018 to $1.54 billion.

In a televised address on Wednesday, Kenya’s president vowed authorities would “seek out every person that was involved in the planning, funding and execution of this heinous act.”