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Nairobi attack: Kenya's President Kenyatta says siege over | |
(35 minutes later) | |
The four-day siege involving suspected Islamist militants at Nairobi's Westgate shopping centre is over, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta says. | The four-day siege involving suspected Islamist militants at Nairobi's Westgate shopping centre is over, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta says. |
Five attackers were shot dead by troops and 11 suspects were in custody, he said in a TV address to the nation. | |
Kenya has "shamed and defeated our attackers" but the "losses are immense", he said, confirming that 61 civilians and six soldiers had died. | Kenya has "shamed and defeated our attackers" but the "losses are immense", he said, confirming that 61 civilians and six soldiers had died. |
Three days of national mourning have been declared, starting on Wednesday. | |
President Kenyatta said that several bodies lying under rubble from collapsed parts of the building had still to be recovered. | |
Some 175 people were injured in the attack; 62 people remain in hospital and many others are being treated for shock and are undergoing counselling. | |
"I promise that we shall have a full accountability for the mindless destruction, deaths, pain, loss and suffering we have all undergone as a national family. | "I promise that we shall have a full accountability for the mindless destruction, deaths, pain, loss and suffering we have all undergone as a national family. |
"These cowards will meet justice, as will their accomplices and patrons, wherever they are," he said. | "These cowards will meet justice, as will their accomplices and patrons, wherever they are," he said. |
At least 18 foreigners are among the dead, including six Britons, as well as citizens from France, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China. | |
Continued threat | |
The militants stormed the Westgate centre on Saturday, throwing grenades and firing on shoppers and staff. | |
Somali Islamist group al-Shabab said it had carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenyan army operations in Somalia. | |
The president said he could not confirm reports that a British national and two or three US citizens were involved in the attacks, but he said forensic experts were carrying out tests to ascertain their nationalities. | The president said he could not confirm reports that a British national and two or three US citizens were involved in the attacks, but he said forensic experts were carrying out tests to ascertain their nationalities. |
In an interview with the US TV programme PBS Newshour, Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said the Americans were 18 or 19 years old, of Somali or Arab origin. | |
Her remarks have fuelled media speculation about the possible involvement of Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of one of the men who carried out attacks on London's transport system on 7 July 2005. | |
President Barack Obama called the attack a "terrible outrage" and said the US was providing all the co-operation it could to Kenya. | |
Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has repeatedly threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of Somalia. | |
There are about 4,000 Kenyan troops in the south of Somalia as part of an African Union force supporting Somali government forces. | |
Al-Shabab is fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia. | |
Despite being pushed out of key cities in the past two years, it remains in control of smaller towns and large swathes of the countryside. | |
UN special representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay called on Tuesday for a fresh surge in African troops to Somalia to counter an estimated 5,000 al-Shabab fighters. |