Kenyan security forces raided the Westgate shopping mall again this morning, where an Islamist group has entrenched itself since Saturday, threatening to kill hostages.
According to various sources, nearly 69 people died during Saturday’s attack on the shopping mall.
The attack was carried out by the Somali Al Shabaab group while many Kenyans and foreigners were inside the mall.
The army reported that the mall’s perimeter has been secured and local police officers noted that the final raid on the facility had begun, although there is a growing fear that attackers may be using hostages as human shields.
The attackers, who remain inside the mall, launched grenades this morning, but no injuries were reported and, according to witnesses, “they seem to be exhausted. Perhaps they simply want to blow themselves and the building up. They did the same all night long.”
Apart from the fatalities so far, the attack also injured nearly 200 people and more than 1,000 have been rescued. The Red Cross also reported 63 people missing.
Peruvian doctor Juan Jesus Ortiz, former deputy head of the Kenyan branch of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), two French women, four British, a Dutch woman, a South African man, a South Korean woman and two Indians, and Ghanaian Poet Kofi Awoonor were killed during the attack, the press reported.
Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said today that he will lead a special emergency meeting to analyze the attack on the Westgate shopping mall.
Cameron said on his Twitter account that he would cut short his visit to Balmoral, a Scottish region, and will return today to the capital for the meeting.
Via PL