On 21 September 2013, 10 as yet unidentified gunmen attacked the upscale Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, fatally shooting at least 59 people, according to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, and wounding about 150 more in a mass shooting.
Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the incident, with many media outlets suspecting the jihadist group in line with their warnings following Operation Linda Nchi in 2011–2012.
Similarly, their Twitter account blamed Kenya for inviting the incident.
The attack is still considered ongoing with hostages being held.
At least 59 people have died and 175 wounded, according to the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary of the Interior Joseph Ole Lenku.
Eyewitnesses were reported to have seen 50 bodies in the mall. In addition, 36 people were taken hostage at the supermarket and a jewellery store; other eyewitnesses also said that they had seen dozens wounded.
Nairobi police chief Benson Kibue called the incident a “terrorist” attack and added that there were likely no more than 10 perpetrators involved.
Saturday 21 September 2013
At about noon (local time), masked gunmen attacked the upscale Westgate shopping mall in Westlands district as it was hosting a children’s day event.
Saturday 21 September 2013
British police officers who are based in Kenya arrived on the scene to help Kenyan counter terrorism officials and an investigation had begun. Security was also tightened in public places across Kenya.
Sunday 22 September 2013
France said two of its citizens had been killed, and Canada said two Canadians had died, including a 29-year-old diplomat.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said there were no Americans among the dead but that several U.S. citizens had been hurt and the wife of a U.S. diplomat working for the U.S. Agency for International Development was killed.
The fighting was ongoing with armed police at least 20 hours later.
Two Indians among 59 killed in Kenya mall attack, Al Qaeda linked Islamists still holding hostages.
24 September 2013
President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Tuesday that Kenya had defeated the militants who had attacked a Nairobi shopping mall and were held out there for four days. The raid killed at least 67 civilians and security personnel, with more bodies still to be recovered. Five militants were killed and 11 were now in custody, Kenyatta said.
5 October 2013
Kenya’s military spokesman on Saturday named four men – including a Sudanese, a Kenyan Arab and a Somali – he said took part in the Islamist militant attack on a Nairobi shopping mall two weeks ago in which at least 67 people were killed. Closed-circuit television footage from the Westgate mall was broadcast on Kenyan television channels, apparently showing at least four alleged attackers with guns walking around the mall’s supermarket and a storage room.