Kenya collapse
Death toll of 67 — including at least 18 foreigners — expected to climb
FBI agents search the rubble of a collapsed Nairobi mall where more than 60 people were killed following a vicious attack by al- Shabab militants.
NAIROBI, Kenya — Working near bodies crushed by rubble in a bullet- scarred, scorched mall, FBI agents began fingerprint, DNA and ballistic analysis Wednesday to help identify victims and al- Shabab gunmen who attacked the shopping centre, killing more than 60 people.
A gaping hole in the mall’s roof was caused by Kenyan soldiers who fired rocket- propelled grenades inside, knocking out a support column, a government official said in an interview. The official, who insisted on anonymity, said the soldiers fired to distract a terrorist sniper so hostages could be evacuated.
The collapse came Monday, shortly after four large explosions, followed by billows of black smoke. Although a government minister said the terrorists had set mattresses on fire, causing the roof to collapse, the video showed such massive destruction that the explanation seemed unlikely to be the full story.
Al- Shabab on its Twitter feed Wednesday claimed the Kenyan government assault team carried out “a demolition” of the building.
The current death toll is 67 — including at least 18 foreigners — and is likely to climb, with uncounted bodies remaining in the wreckage of the Nairobi mall. Another 175 people were injured, including more than 60 who remain in hospital.
Also among those killed when the militants entered the Westgate Mall on Saturday, firing assault rifles and throwing grenades, were two Canadians, six Britons and citizens from France, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China.
Al- Shabab had threatened retaliation against Kenya for sending its troops into Somalia against al- Shabab, and many of those killed in an attack that horrified the world were Kenyans.
The group’s leader, Ahmed Godane, said in a new audio statement Wednesday that the attack was carried out in retaliation for the West’s support for Kenya’s Somalia invasion and the “interest of their oil companies.” Somalia has untapped energy reserves.
Godane said there would be more attacks if Kenya doesn’t withdraw its troops.
Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said forensic experts from Canada, the U. S., Israel, Britain and Germany are all taking part in trying to reconstruct the scene at the mall. He said results would take at least a week.
Al- Shabab said the Kenyan government assault team carried out “a demolition” of the building — apparently referring to the firing of rocket- propelled grenades — burying 137 hostages in the debris. However, the country’s interior minister told a news conference that an “inconsequential number” of bodies remained in the mall.
In tweets from a Twitter account believed to be genuine, al- Shabab also said that “having failed to defeat the mujahedeen inside the mall, the Kenyan govt disseminated chemical gases to end the siege.”
But a Kenyan government spokesman said no chemical weapons, including tear gas, had been used.
In another development, a British man was arrested in Kenya after the attack, Britain’s Foreign Office said.
British officials are ready to provide assistance to the man, the agency said Wednesday. Officials would not provide his name or details. He is believed to be in his 30s.
Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper said the man was arrested Monday as he tried to board a flight from Nairobi to Turkey with a bruised face and while acting suspiciously.
Kenyan officials have said that 11 suspects in total have been arrested, including at least seven at the airport. They are being questioned, the government spokesman said.
Al- Shabab, which in Arabic means The Youth, first began threatening Kenya with a major terror attack in late 2011 after Kenya sent troops into Somalia following a spate of kidnappings of Westerners inside Kenya.
The mall attack was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya since the 1998 al- Qaida truck bombing of the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people.