BREAKING NEWS: Upscale Mall Becomes War Zone in Kenya Terror Attack. Over 30 Killed.

• published: 21 Sep 2013
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NAIROBI, Kenya — An upscale mall popular with the Kenyan elite and the foreign diplomats and businesspeople who call Nairobi home turned into a war zone on Saturday, as gunmen opened fire on shoppers in an apparent terrorist attack, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens more. At nightfall, the mall remained sealed off to the public as police officers and soldiers searched floor by floor for the gunmen, who were still believed to be inside with hostages. Witnesses described hearing explosions and gunfire as they fled, leaving behind blood, broken glass and carnage in what was apparently one of the worst terrorist attacks in the country's history. Joseph Momanyi, 26, an employee at the Nakumatt grocery store there, said that as he was running away he heard the attackers shouting that "Muslims should leave" the complex. Hours after the attack began, the Shabab, the ferocious Somali militant group that has been linked to past attacks in Kenya, suggested in a series of Twitter posts that its fighters were responsible for the massacre. "The attack at Westgate Mall is just a very tiny fraction of what Muslims in Somalia experience at the hands of Kenyan invaders," one post said. Others continued: "By land, air and sea, Kenyan forces invaded our Muslim country, killing hundreds of Muslims in the process and displacing thousands more. The Kenyan government, however, turned a deaf ear to our repeated warnings and continued to massacre innocent Muslims in Somalia." It said it had warned the Kenyan government that failure to remove its forces from Somalia "would have severe consequences." Kenya is widely considered a beacon of stability in an often unstable region. The United Nations has a hub here, as do many nonprofit organizations and corporations. The country's economy is heavily dependent on tourist revenue, with peaceful safaris and gentle holidays on the coast attracting people from all over the world. Even before the rise of the Shabab, Kenya was a target for terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda, like the 1998 bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi and coordinated attacks on an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa and an Israeli airliner in 2002. But Kenya has found itself ever more enmeshed in the bloody volatility of Somalia since October 2011, when Kenyan military forces invaded Somalia to help fight the Shabab. The Kenyan authorities blame the militant Islamist group for a grenade and gunfire attack on two churches last year that killed 15 people. Gen. Abbas Guled, secretary general of the Kenyan Red Cross, said in a phone interview on Saturday that 30 people had been killed and more than 60 wounded. The police had not yet confirmed any fatalities. Local media reported that one wounded suspect had been detained at a hospital on Saturday evening. The State Department said it had reports that several Americans were among the wounded, although it declined to elaborate, citing privacy reasons. "We condemn this senseless act of violence that has resulted in death and injury for many innocent men, women, and children," said a department spokeswoman, Marie Harf. Stephen Opiyo, 25, who was working at a supermarket there, said: "We heard gunshots and started running, trying to find an escape route. I saw many people who had suffered gunshot injuries, and some have been taken away to hospital." Witnesses described attackers using AK-47 rifles and throwing grenades. Photographs from the scene showed a woman's bloody body being lifted out of a car, the glass of the window shattered. Vivian Atieno, 26, who works on the first floor of the mall, described "intense shooting," starting around 11 a.m., before she escaped through a fire exit. Haron Mwachia, 20, a cleaner at the mall, said he escaped by climbing over a wall. "I heard several gunshots and managed to run away," he said. "It was a horrible experience to me, and I was extremely afraid," he said. "I've never seen anything like it." Military helicopters hovered overhead as the police kept bystanders away from the scene. The police said they had surrounded the mall, and officers were seen clearing the shops one by one. "Our officers are on the ground carrying out an evacuation of those inside as they search for the attackers, who are said to be inside," Inspector General David Kimaiyo of the Kenyan police told Agence France-Presse. Agence France-Presse reported that the gunmen had taken at least seven hostages, citing police officers and security guards at the scene. The Red Cross reported around 5 p.m. on its Twitter account that the hostages were being released. Benson Kibue, the Nairobi police chief, told The Associated Press that it was a terrorist attack and that there were probably no more than 10 gunmen involved. Earlier, Mr. Kibue said the attack had been part of an attempted robbery. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/world/africa/nairobi-mall-shooting.html?hp&_r=0