Terrorists tweet as attack unfolds
As the deadly attack unfolded inside Kenya’s Westgate mall, the militants who claimed responsibility for the spreading mayhem sent out tweet after tweet, taunting the Kenyan military, defending the mass killings and threatening more bloodshed. Each time Twitter shut the account down — a total of five times, according to a U.S.-based security analyst — al-Shabab started a new feed. The sixth account included a post on Tuesday linking to a photo that purported to be two of the attackers “unruffled and strolling around the mall in such sangfroid manner” and mocking Kenya’s security forces for their repeated assurances over two days — also tweeted — that the siege was nearly over. It wasn’t the first time al-Shabab has live-tweeted a terrorist attack. The militants offered comments in real time or nearly so in recent attacks in Mogadishu and the attempted assassination of the Somali president. But the drawn out Kenya attack brought the group to a much wider stage, amplified by its social media savvy.
Kenya’s president proclaimed victory Tuesday over the terrorists who stormed a Nairobi mall, saying security forces had “ashamed and defeated our attackers” following a bloody four-day siege in which dozens of civilians were killed.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said the 67 dead included 61 civilians whose bodies have been recovered so far and six security forces, while some 175 were injured, including 62 who remain hospitalized.
Three floors of the mall collapsed and several bodies were trapped in the rubble, said Kenyatta. His office later said a terrorist’s body was among those in the debris.
Five other extremists were killed by gunfire, he said in the televised address to the nation.
He said 11 other suspects had been arrested; authorities had previously announced the arrest of seven at the airport and three elsewhere.
“These cowards will meet justice as well as their accomplices and patrons, wherever they are,” Kenyatta said.
Kenyatta said “initial reports had suggested that a British woman and two or three American citizens may have been involved in the attack,” but that “we cannot confirm the details at the moment.
He said experts were working to try and determine the nationalities of the terrorists.
Earlier, Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed had said “two or three Americans” and “one Brit” were among those who attacked the mall.
A security expert with contacts inside the mall described the attackers as “a multinational collection from all over the world.”
U.S. officials said they were looking into whether any Americans were involved. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday that the department had “no definitive evidence of the nationalities or the identities” of the attackers.
Kenyatta declared three days of national mourning starting today.
At the Westgate mall, there were no immediate signs of the Kenyan Security forces closing their operation.
Two Kenyan soldiers who had recently been inside the mall said shortly before the president spoke that the operation was effectively finished, but they said security forces were still combing the facility and had not definitively cleared all the rooms inside.
Al-Shabab, the Somali rebel group claiming responsibility for the attack, said in a Twitter message: “There are countless number of dead bodies still scattered inside the mall, and the mujahideen are still holding their ground.”
The group whose name means “The Youth” in Arabic, went on to say it still held hostages, who were “still alive looking quite disconcerted but, nevertheless, alive.”
The Kenyan Red Cross seemed certain that the number of confirmed deaths would rise as security forces search the building. Nairobi’s city morgue had already braced for the arrival of a large number of bodies of people killed, an official said.
Kenyan Red Cross spokesman Abbas Gullet said it was still not known how many more may be dead inside the building.
“It is certainly known that there are more casualties,” he said.
A government official said the morgue was preparing for up to an additional 60 bodies, though the official didn’t know an exact count.
Al-Shabab said the mall attack was in retribution for Kenyan forces’ 2011 push into neighboring Somalia. African Union forces pushed the al-Qaida-affiliated group out of Somalia’s capital in 2011.
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