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Shots and Explosions Heard as Kenya Presses Assault Against Militants in Mall Shots Heard as Kenya Presses Assault Against Mall Attackers
(about 4 hours later)
NAIROBI, Kenya — The standoff at a luxury mall in Nairobi, which the Kenyan authorities had vowed would end Sunday night, entered a third day Monday heralded by volleys of gunfire, the boom of explosions and a column of thick, black smoke rising from the besieged shopping center. NAIROBI, Kenya — Huge columns of black smoke poured out of the besieged mall in Nairobi on Monday afternoon as Kenyan forces moved in for a major assault against heavily armed Islamist militants who stormed the mall Saturday, slaughtering dozens of civilians and taking hostages.
Government troops could be seen massing outside the building. Kenyan forces have been struggling to capture or kill the militants, who are holed up with military-grade weaponry and seem determined to fight to the death. The security forces’ tactical operations inside the mall seemed to be intensifying on Monday, with long bursts of gunfire ringing out and several large explosions.
Seeking to end an assault that has left scores dead and shaken the country, the Kenyan government said on Sunday it was pressing a counterattack against Shabab militant attackers holed up in the mall since Saturday. The military announced that it had retaken most of the complex of stores and cafes, but by early Monday, government forces appeared to have found it more difficult to dislodge the attackers than expected. There were conflicting reports on civilian and military deaths and injuries, but it seemed clear that more than 60 people had been killed — including three Britons — and at least 150 injured, while at least a handful of hostages remained.
A few hours later, the smoke coming from the building seemed to indicate that the struggle had entered a new phase but the origin and cause of the conflagration was not clear. Helicopters circled overhead. Western security advisers said that three Kenyan commandos had been killed on Sunday night while trying to dislodge the attackers, though Kenyan officials have reported only injuries to military forces.
The attackers have been confined to the third floor of the complex since their initial assault Saturday. Security forces freed most of the hostages over the weekend, though details could not be confirmed. Helicopters circled the mall building through the night as heavy rain fell. The Shabab, a militant group in Somalia that has killed countless civilians with suicide bombs, has claimed responsibility for this attack and boasted of its prowess in a barrage of Twitter messages. The group has said that the attack is retribution for the Kenyan military presence in Somalia, where Kenyan troops have helped drive Shabab fighters out of much of the territory they once controlled.
“Most areas of the building are now in the control of K.D.F.,” said Col. Cyrus Oguna, referring to the Kenya Defense Forces. He told the television station KTN that most of the hostages taken by the militants had been rescued. “We know the number cannot be more than 10 right now.” But the assault was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya since the 1998 Qaeda truck bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people. One Western security adviser was among those who said other terrorist groups might be involved. “This whole thing seems more advanced than anything the Shabab has ever done,” he said.
The Shabab, a militant group based mostly in neighboring Somalia, warned on Twitter that “Kenyan forces who’ve just attempted a roof landing must know that they are jeopardizing the lives of all the hostages at #Westgate.” Another Web posting, quoted by Reuters and ascribed to the militants, threatened to kill the remaining hostages if force was used against them. A confidential United Nations security report described the assault on the mall as two-pronged, with groups of gunmen attacking on different floors simultaneously.
Officials said that at least four members of the security forces had been wounded. But there were no other details about casualties on either side. The security adviser said that the three Kenyan commandos were killed along with several hostages on Sunday night, as the military forces moved in against a group of militants hiding in a dark corner of the mall. The Kenyan soldiers were shot several times, at close range, and may have been executed while they were wounded and still alive, the adviser said.
The attack on the mall deeply distressed Kenya, a country that has grown in stature as a force against terrorism in East Africa. As the toll mounted — at least 68 were reported dead by late Sunday, with some people still unaccounted for — the potential for even greater loss of life seemed tangible. “It was either a trap or an ambush,” said the adviser, who asked not to be identified during the operations.
The security advisers said that 5 to 10 hostages were killed in the episode, either caught in the cross-fire or executed by the militants, and that three militants were killed. Kenyan officials said two militants were killed and several others wounded, and they have not commented on the hostages.
Kenya has called on Israeli military advisers to help them. Members of American, British and French security services were also on the scene, a high-ranking Kenyan official said Monday, though it seemed that the Israelis were the only outsiders involved in helping plan the combat operations.
Several witnesses said that some of the ringleaders of the attack, in which masked militants moved methodically through the mall, fatally shooting men, women and children, may have escaped during the initial confusion. Some said that one assailant, who did not look African, quickly tore off his clothes and changed into a new outfit and then ran out, blending in with a crowd of panicked, fleeing civilians.
Several security officials in Nairobi said that there may have been two women among the militants who also escaped after the initial stage of the attack, raising fears that well-trained terrorists could be on the loose in Nairobi. Some witnesses said that some of the militants were not African and may have been from Western countries, but American officials said they could not confirm that.
Already, Kenya’s currency has begun to slide, raising fears that the attack will have devastating consequences on the economy, which is fueled by tourism and outside investment and is vulnerable to swings in perception.
The Kenyan authorities had vowed to end the assault Sunday night. On Monday, they acknowledged that the effort was taking longer than expected, but said that it would be over soon. “We are in charge of the situation, our people are safe, and hostages have been evacuated,” said Joseph Ole Lenku, Kenya’s interior cabinet secretary. Mr. Ole Lenku said that 10 Kenyan soldiers had been injured, and that he was “not aware” if any had been killed.
All day Monday, police helicopters swirled over the mall and a surveillance aircraft pulled low, growling circles. “We are also closing in on the attackers,” David Kimaiyo, the inspector general of the National Police Service, said on Twitter in the afternoon.
Col. Cyrus Oguna of the Kenya Defense Forces said the number of hostages “cannot be more than 10 now.”
“Most areas of the building are now in the control of K.D.F.,” he told the television station KTN.
The Shabab warned on Twitter that “Kenyan forces who’ve just attempted a roof landing must know that they are jeopardizing the lives of all the hostages at #Westgate.” Another Web posting, quoted by Reuters and ascribed to the militants, issued a threat to kill the remaining hostages if force was used. The newspaper The Standard reported that the militants were protected in a bulletproof room.
On Monday, reflecting the breadth of the crisis, judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague took the unusual step of suspending for one week the trial of Kenya’s deputy president, William Ruto, on charges of crimes against humanity so that he could return home to assist in the government’s response.On Monday, reflecting the breadth of the crisis, judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague took the unusual step of suspending for one week the trial of Kenya’s deputy president, William Ruto, on charges of crimes against humanity so that he could return home to assist in the government’s response.
Mr. Ruto has pleaded not guilty to three charges relating to the violence that rocked the country after the disputed 2007 election. Mr. Ruto has pleaded not guilty to three charges related to the violence that rocked the country after the disputed 2007 election.
Addressing the country, President Uhuru Kenyatta sounded a note of solidarity in loss, revealing that his nephew and the man’s fiancée were among the dead. “These are young, lovely people I personally knew and loved,” Mr. Kenyatta said. “Many of us have lost loved ones. Let us mourn them all as one nation and keep them always in remembrance and prayer.” President Obama called the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, on Sunday to reaffirm the “strong and historic partnership between the United States and Kenya.” That relationship has been strained by the election in March of Mr. Kenyatta, who is being prosecuted at the International Criminal Court on charges of financing death squads during the 2007 political violence. Mr. Obama skipped visiting Kenya, his father’s birthplace, on his trip to Africa in late June.
Addressing the nation, Mr. Kenyatta sounded a note of solidarity in loss, revealing that his nephew and the man’s fiancée were among the dead. “These are young, lovely people I personally knew and loved,” Mr. Kenyatta said. “Many of us have lost loved ones. Let us mourn them all as one nation and keep them always in remembrance and prayer.”
He said security forces had rescued more than 1,000 people from the mall since the violence began on Saturday, calling the forces’ performance “remarkable and encouraging,” even as he asked for patience from the public as the standoff continued.He said security forces had rescued more than 1,000 people from the mall since the violence began on Saturday, calling the forces’ performance “remarkable and encouraging,” even as he asked for patience from the public as the standoff continued.
The assault on Westgate was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya since the 1998 Qaeda truck bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi that killed more than 200 people. The mall is one of Nairobi’s fanciest, and the expensive shops and restaurants attracted wealthy Kenyans and expatriates alike. Among the dead were people from all over the world, including from Britain, France, Ghana, Canada, China, and India. Following the confirmation of the deaths of three Britons, Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday that he was cutting short a visit to Scotland and returning to London to head a meeting of the so-called Cobra committee of senior ministers and security officials. Five Americans were among the wounded, but none were known to have been killed. News agencies reported that other foreigners were also among the dead.
President Obama called Mr. Kenyatta on Sunday to reaffirm the “strong and historic partnership between the United States and Kenya.” That relationship has been strained by the election in March of Mr. Kenyatta, who is being prosecuted at the International Criminal Court on charges of financing death squads during the 2007 political violence. Mr. Obama skipped visiting Kenya, his father’s birthplace, on his trip to Africa in late June. The killings have plunged Kenya into national mourning.
The Shabab have said that they staged the mall attack as retribution for the Kenyan military presence in Somalia, where Kenyan troops have driven Shabab fighters out of much of the territory they once controlled. A confidential United Nations security report described the assault on the mall as two-pronged, with groups of gunmen attacking on different floors simultaneously. Among the dead was Ruhila Adatia-Sood, a popular Kenyan radio host who was in the parking lot of the mall hosting a cooking competition, according to reports. She posted several photos on her Instagram account before the attack.
Joseph Ole Lenku, the cabinet secretary for the interior, said Sunday afternoon that 10 to 15 attackers were inside the mall. Mr. Kenyatta said he could not confirm reports that one or more of the attackers were women. A message on Twitter attributed to the Shabab claimed that several of the attackers were American. A senior law enforcement official in the United States said the Federal Bureau of Investigation had yet to establish whether that claim was true and that it would be difficult to do so until all the attackers were captured or killed. Also killed was Kofi Awoonor, 78, a Ghanaian poet and former professor at the University of Ghana.
The BBC quoted a Shabab spokesman, who identified himself as Abu Omar, as denying a flurry of claims on Twitter that the attackers included British and American citizens and women assailants.
The number of bystanders remaining in the building was not as clear, though the Kenya Red Cross, citing the police, said Sunday that 49 people were unaccounted for, raising the prospect of a higher death toll.
The American official said the F.B.I. had offered assistance to the Kenyan authorities and that F.B.I. agents were at the Kenyan command post at the scene. There were reports that Israelis were supporting the Kenyan authorities as well; a spokeswoman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said she could not comment. The secretary general of Interpol, Ronald K. Noble, said in a statement that his agency had offered to send a response team, including forensic and counterterrorism experts.
Mr. Kenyatta said that he had received “numerous offers of assistance from friendly countries; for the time being, however, this remains an operation of the Kenyan security agencies.”
Among those killed in the mall were three Britons, the British Foreign Office confirmed Sunday, and Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday that he was cutting short a visit to Scotland and returning to London to head a meeting of the so-called Cobra committee of senior ministers and security officials. News agencies reported that other foreigners were killed as well.
Five Americans were wounded.
The identities of victims began to emerge on Sunday.
One of those killed was Ruhila Adatia-Sood, a popular Kenyan radio host who was in the parking lot of the mall hosting a cooking competition, according to reports. She posted several photos on her Instagram account before the attack.
Also among the dead was Kofi Awoonor, 78, a Ghanaian poet and former professor at the University of Ghana.
Hundreds of relatives and friends of people who were in the mall went to hospitals around the city that were treating the wounded, trying to learn the fate of family members.
At the M P Shah Hospital a few miles away from the mall, distressed relatives milled around a tent erected for them outside the building, as volunteers worked to assist them.
Ruth Nyambura, 26, whose uncle was working at the Nakumatt Supermarket in Westgate at the time of the attack, said she was terrified.
“I have come along with my family just to find out how he’s doing,” Ms. Nyambura said. “He was shot in the head, suffered severe wounds on his one of his eyes and his arms. He was operated on yesterday, and we''ve come to see him again. We are being told to wait because the queue is too long.”
Kenya’s political class, often starkly divided, has demonstrated unity since the attack. Raila Odinga, a former prime minister and a political opponent of Mr. Kenyatta, joined him in an appearance at the State House on Sunday.Kenya’s political class, often starkly divided, has demonstrated unity since the attack. Raila Odinga, a former prime minister and a political opponent of Mr. Kenyatta, joined him in an appearance at the State House on Sunday.
“This is a trying moment for our country,” Mr. Odinga said. “It is something that has hit at the very heart of our country''s unity. Our people must come together at times like this to help each other.” “This is a trying moment for our country,” Mr. Odinga said. “It is something that has hit at the very heart of our country"s unity. Our people must come together at times like this to help each other.”
In his address on Sunday, Mr. Kenyatta, too, appealed for unity. “We have ashamed and defeated our attackers,” he said. “Let us continue to wage a relentless moral war as our forces conduct a physical battle. We shall triumph.”In his address on Sunday, Mr. Kenyatta, too, appealed for unity. “We have ashamed and defeated our attackers,” he said. “Let us continue to wage a relentless moral war as our forces conduct a physical battle. We shall triumph.”

Reporting was contributed by Reuben Kyama, Jeffrey Gettleman and Tyler Hicks from Nairobi; Jodi Rudoren from Jerusalem; Mark Mazzetti from Washington; Mohammed Ibrahim from Mogadishu, Somalia; William K. Rashbaum from New York; and Alan Cowell from London.

Reporting was contributed by Reuben Kyama and Tyler Hicks from Nairobi; Jodi Rudoren from Jerusalem; Mark Mazzetti from Washington; Mohammed Ibrahim from Mogadishu, Somalia; William K. Rashbaum from New York; and Alan Cowell from London.