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A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 16 January 2019
Extremists attack hotel in Nairobi; al-Shabab claims role

scores of people.
Gunfire could be heard for
hours after Tuesday's at-
tack began. Several vehi-
cles burned, sending black
smoke rising over the com-
plex. Some people ducked
behind cars, screaming,
while others took cover be-
hind fountains and other
features at the lush com-
plex.
Ambulances, security forc-
es and firefighters con-
verged along with a bomb
disposal unit, and vehicles
were cordoned off for fear
they contained explosives.
Police said they blew up a
car that had explosives in-
side. An unexploded gre-
nade was also seen in a
hallway at the complex.
Security forces hurried out a
large group of women, one
of them still in curlers. Doz-
ens of others were rushed
to safety as plainclothes of-
Security forces help civilians flee the scene as cars burn behind, at a hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. ficers went shop to shop in
Associated Press the complex. Some people
held up their hands to show
By JOSEPH MWIHIA on tables, bleeding. "there was no time to count a day after a magistrate they were unarmed.
Associated Press "We were changing our the dead." ruled that three men must A Kenyan intelligence of-
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ex- shifts, and that is when I Also, a witness who gave stand trial in connection ficial said the country had
tremists launched a deadly heard a loud blast and peo- his name only as Ken said with the Westgate Mall been on high alert since
attack on a luxury hotel in ple were screaming," said he saw five bodies at the siege. A fourth suspect was November, with informa-
Kenya's capital Tuesday, Enoch Kibet, who works as entrance. He said that oth- freed for lack of evidence. tion about potential at-
sending people fleeing in a cleaner at the cafe and er people were shouting for Al-Shabab has vowed ret- tacks on high-profile tar-
panic as explosions and managed to crawl out of help and "when we rushed ribution against Kenya for gets in Nairobi. The official
heavy gunfire reverber- a gate in the basement. "I back to try to rescue them, sending troops to Somalia was not authorized to talk
ated through the complex. couldn't believe I was alive. gunshots started coming since 2011. The al-Qaida- to the media and spoke on
A witness said he saw five The blast was so loud and from upstairs, and we had linked group has killed hun- condition of anonymity.
bodies at the hotel en- shook the whole complex." to duck because they were dreds of people in Kenya, A Somali diplomat who like-
trance alone. Authorities sent special targeting us and we could which has been targeted wise spoke on condition of
Al-Shabab — the Somalia- forces into the hotel to see two guys shooting." more than any other of anonymity said Somali of-
based Islamic extremist flush out the gunmen be- Kenyan hospitals appealed the six countries providing ficials were in the hotel for
group that carried out the lieved holed up inside. Well for blood donations even troops to an African Union meetings at the time of the
2013 Westgate Mall at- after nightfall, more than as the number of wounded force in Somalia. attack and several were
tack in Nairobi that left 67 five hours after the attack remained unclear. Tuesday's carnage demon- feared to still be inside.
people dead — claimed began, Boinnet said the Associated Press vid- strated al-Shabbab's con- Despite the years of blood-
responsibility. counter-operation was still eo from inside the hotel tinued ability to carry out shed, the Kenya-Somalia
"It is terrible. What I have going on. showed Kenyan security spectacular acts of blood- border remains porous,
seen is terrible," said Charles It was not clear how many officers anxiously searching shed despite a dramatic with al-Shabab extremists
Njenga, who ran from a attackers laid siege to the the building and scared increase in U.S. airstrikes able to easily bribe their
scene of blood, broken complex, which includes workers emerging from hid- against it under President way across, according to a
glass, burning vehicles and the DusitD2 hotel, along ing while gunfire could still Donald Trump. U.N. panel of experts.
black smoke. with bars, restaurants, be heard. Some women In the Westgate Mall mas- The hotel complex in Nai-
The coordinated assault banks and offices and is climbed out of windows. sacre, al-Shabab extrem- robi's Westlands neighbor-
began with an explosion in a well-to-do neighbor- One man got up from the ists burst into the luxury hood is about a mile (2 ki-
that targeted three ve- hood with large numbers of floor where he appeared shopping center, hurling lometers) from Westgate
hicles outside a bank, and American, European and to be trying to hide under grenades and starting a Mall on a relatively quiet,
a suicide bombing in the Indian expatriates. a piece of wood paneling, dayslong siege. In 2015, tree-lined road in what is
hotel lobby that severely Boinnet did not disclose the then showed his ID badge. al-Shabab claimed re- considered one of the most
wounded a number of number of dead. As officers searched luxury sponsibility for an attack secure parts of the city. The
guests, said Kenya's na- However, a Kenyan police fashion displays, wounded on Kenya's Garissa Univer- hotel's website says it is
tional police chief, Joseph officer who spoke on con- people were carried away sity that killed 147 people, "cocooned away from the
Boinnet. dition of anonymity be- on stretchers. mostly students. Tuesday's hustle and bustle in a se-
Survivors reported hearing cause he was not autho- Like al-Shabab's Westgate violence also came three cure and peaceful haven."
a shattering blast and saw rized to talk to the media Mall attack, this one ap- years to the day after On Monday, the hotel pro-
people mowed down by said that bodies were seen peared aimed at wealthy al-Shabab extremists at- moted its spa by tweeting:
gunmen as they sat at a in restaurants downstairs Kenyans and foreigners liv- tacked a Kenyan military "Is your new year off to a
cafe. Victims were left lying and in offices upstairs, but ing in the country. It came base in Somalia, killing rough start?"q