SAS man played key role in Kenya rescue
British charity worker among 21 dead as images show member of Special Forces in the line of fire
A member of the SAS played a principal role in saving trapped civilians during the Nairobi terrorist attack. The 20-hour al-shabaab assault on a luxury hotel and office complex was quashed yesterday, with 21 people confirmed dead, plus the five perpetrators. A British national named as Luke Potter was confirmed among the dead. The unidentified SAS soldier, who was reportedly in Kenya to train local special forces, appeared to be at the forefront of the rescue operation.
A MEMBER of the SAS helped save hundreds of lives when he charged into gunfire to rescue civilians trapped during a terrorist attack in Nairobi.
A mission mounted by Kenyan forces yesterday ended a 20-hour assault on 14 Riverside, a luxury hotel and office complex in one of the city’s most affluent districts.
Last night the death toll was con- firmed as 21 plus five militants, although the Kenyan Red Cross had said that as many as 50 people remained unaccounted for.
A British national named as Luke Potter was confirmed among the dead. One other Briton was badly wounded.
The unidentified SAS soldier, who was reportedly in Kenya to train and mentor local special forces, often appeared to be at the forefront of the operation, and was captured on film frequently bringing civilians to safety.
Although on non-combat deployment, he was seen wearing body armour over civilian clothes and a balaclava to cover his face. In one pho- tograph, he carries the limp, bleeding body of a victim. Another shows the soldier bursting into the hotel complex with his special forces issue C8 Diemaco rifle drawn.
He reportedly worked with US navy Seals, operating under Kenyan command, during the mission.
British Special Forces are not meant to engage in any direct combat on such missions. However, The Daily Telegraph understands that no action is to be taken against the SAS intervention, and that the man’s decision to involve himself in the life-saving operation was considered to be a fine example of the ethos of British Special Forces.
Five years ago in Nairobi, a bungled security operation was blamed for prolonging a terror attack on the Westgate shopping mall, leaving 67 people dead.
Lessons appear to have been learnt. Yesterday multiple security units, acting under the command of the head of a feared paramilitary unit, mounted a sustained counterassault, clearing the complex building by building.
A second British security officer, sta- tioned in a getaway vehicle outside the complex, confirmed his involvement but declined to give details, only saying: “We are part of an ongoing operation.”
More than 800 people were caught up in the incident, many of them either hotel guests or workers at multinational corporations housed in the complex’s five office blocks.
Mr Potter was an employee of the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, set up by the philanthropist and Labour peer Lord Sainsbury, and had only recently arrived in Nairobi.
A woman believed to have been with Mr Potter suffered multiple gunshot wounds. She was described as being critical but stable by friends.
An American citizen, named as Jason Spindler, was also among the dead.
“Jason was a survivor of 9/11 and a fighter,” his brother Jonathan wrote on Facebook. “I’m sure he gave them hell.”
Cherop Rotich, a secretary, said she had hidden in an office lavatory as gunmen prowled the corridor outside, kicking at doors and taunting their intended victims. “I honestly thought I was not going to get out alive,” she said.
Uhuru Kenyatta, the Kenyan president, pledged to hunt down those behind the attack, responsibility for which was claimed by al-shabaab, a Somali Islamist outfit affiliated to alqaeda. “We will seek every person involved in planning, funding and executing this heinous act,” he said.