Kenya police scour rubble as hotel attack toll jumps to 21

— Kenyan police scoured the rubble of a Nairobi hotel complex for more victims Wednesday as the death toll from a jihadist attack jumped to 21 and mourners began to bury the dead.

President Uhuru Kenyatta had earlier announced the end of a 20-hour operation at the DusitD2 complex which saw hundreds of people rescued and all five jihadists “eliminated.”

The bloody assault was claimed by the al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group Al-Shabaab, which said it was acting to avenge the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to declare Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, according to the SITE monitoring group.

Chilling CCTV footage broadcast on local media showed four black-clad, heavily armed men calmly entering the luxury complex on Tuesday afternoon. A suicide bomb blast signalled the start of the attack.

Police chief Joseph Boinnet revised the death toll to 21 from 14, saying the victims included 16 Kenyans, one American, one Briton and three of African descent.

“Six other bodies were found at the scene and one police officer succumbed very suddenly to his injuries,” he told reporters.

Another 28 wounded people had been admitted to hospital, he said.

As police searched for further victims, bomb disposal experts were looking for any grenades left by the assailants.

“The public must not panic if it hears explosions from the area,” Boinnet said.

As the first explosion and gunfire rang out in the leafy Westlands suburb on Tuesday, hundreds of terrified office workers barricaded themselves in the complex while others fled.

At least one suicide bomber blew himself up and others traded gunfire with security forces as the assault on DusitD2, a complex which includes a 101-room hotel, spa, restaurant and offices, unfolded.

“There were five terrorists and all of them are no more,” Boinnet told AFP earlier. “It is a clearing exercise now going on there.”