The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Somalian terror group behind attack on hotel
Kenya: Group was responsible for deadly mall raid in 2013
Witnesses have reported seeing bodies after extremists launched an attack on a luxury hotel in Kenya’s capital city.
Al Shebab – the Somaliabased Islamic extremist group that carried out the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi that left 67 dead – has claimed responsibility.
“It is terrible. What I have seen is terrible,” said a man who ran from the scene.
As night fell, gunfire continued more than two
“We’re aware armed criminals are holing up in the hotel”
hours after the first shots were heard at the complex, which includes the DusitD2 hotel, along with bars, restaurants, banks and offices.
“We are aware that armed criminals are holing up in the hotel and special forces are now currently flushing them out,” said Kenya’s national police chief Joseph Boinnet, describing the assault as a suspected terror attack.
A Kenyan police officer said bodies were seen in restaurants and offices, but “there was no time to count the dead”.
Another witness said he saw five bodies at the entrance. Other people were shouting for help and “when we rushed back to try to rescue them, gunshots started coming from upstairs and we had to duck because they were targeting us and we could see two guys shooting”.
Kenyan hospitals appealed for blood donations even as the number of wounded remained unclear.
The violence appeared to fit the pattern of attacks al Shebab often carries out in Somalia’s capital, with an explosion followed by a group of gunmen storming the place.
Like the Westgate Mall attack, this one appeared aimed at wealthy Kenyans and foreigners living in the country. The hotel complex is in an affluent section of Nairobi that has large numbers of expatriates from the US and Europe.