Shocking new video today revealed the true extent of the destruction caused to the Nairobi shopping centre during the four-day battle between Kenyan forces and Islamic militants.
Aerial footage shows a gaping hole in the mall's roof after three storeys collapsed when Kenyan soldiers fired rocket-propelled grenades inside the complex, knocking out a support column, a government official said.
The collapse happened on Monday when government troops launched a massive assault on the mall where up to 150 people are thought to have been killed.
During the firefight, hostages reportedly had their throats slashed from ear to ear and were thrown screaming from third-floor balconies as the siege came to a bloody end.
Shell-shocked Kenyan troops said the inside of the Israeli-run mall resembled a ‘scene from a horror movie’ with blood spattered everywhere and dead bodies strewn across the floor.
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Chasm: New footage has revealed the extent of the destruction to Nairobi's Westgate mall after three floors of the complex collapsed during heavy fighting between Kenyan forces and Islamic militants
Carnage: The collapse came on Monday, shortly after large explosions rang out followed by billows of smoke
Destruction: Cars are strewn among the carnage, which was caused by Kenyan soldiers who fired rocket-propelled grenades inside the complex, knocking out a support column, a government official said
Conflicting reports: A minister said the terrorists had set mattresses on fire, causing the roof to collapse
One soldier told the Daily Mirror: 'I have seen many bad things, but this will haunt me for the rest of my days.'
The main thrust of the operation began at 6am on Monday when troops and helicopters surrounded the building, but their efforts were hampered by an Al Shabaab sniper who managed to pin them back for nearly 24 hours.
As tear gas was used to try to flush him out, another terrorist reportedly blew himself up. It is believed the resulting fire may have killed dozens of shoppers in a supermarket.
The following day, the soldiers were ordered to adopt a 'shoot to kill' policy and launched their final attack on the terror group on the roof of the mall at 5pm.
The mall was retaken about half an hour later.
Between 10 and 15 terrorists are thought to have stormed the mall on Saturday, according to Kenyan officials.
The police said five insurgents were killed in the battle and at least 10 taken into custody.
Still smouldering: Smoke rises over the mall on Thursday morning as a forensic examination begins inside
Assessing the damage: Kenyan government officials accompanied by armed security officers tour an outside upper level near a collapsed floor of the Westgate mall
Surveying the scene: A Maasai man looks out over the smouldering mall from an overlooking building
HOW DID AL SHABAAB SMUGGLE IN SUCH AN ARSENAL OF WEAPONS?
When Kenyan troops launched their assault to retake the mall, they didn't just face bullets from AK-47 rifles.
They found themselves up against an arsenal of booby-trap explosives, heavy-calibre machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and tens of thousands of live rounds.
Much of this would very unlikely have been carried into the complex by the Al Shabaab militia, say security sources.
They say they were much more likely to have been smuggled in beforehand.
This adds weight to claims that the group
hired a women’s clothes shop in the mall beforehand to stash their weapons.
hired a women’s clothes shop in the mall beforehand to stash their weapons.
It is also thought English-speaking foreign fighters were carefully selected and plans of the huge Westgate mall studied down to the ventilation ducts.
This raises questions about how intelligence agencies failed to pick up on such an elaborately planned attack.
A British defence source told the Independent: 'This was hardly a spontaneous event, the way these guys were deployed... the fact they could replenish their ammunition shows a lot of pre-planning.'
Video of the roof collapse showed massive carnage with cars littered among the piles of rubble.
Although a government minister said the terrorists had set mattresses on fire, causing the roof to collapse, the video showed such massive destruction that the explanation seemed unlikely to be the full story.
On its Twitter feed, Al Shabaab, the Somali Islamic extremist group which carried out the attack, claimed the Kenyan government assault team carried out 'a demolition' of the building.
It accused the Kenyan authorities of using chemical s to subdue the attackers, a claim denied as 'wild allegations' by the government.
Meanwhile, fears have been raised of a second attack after at least four militants tried to escape halfway through the siege, but were forced back by Kenyan commandos and U.S. agents.
A security source with detailed knowledge of the siege said the armed terrorists tried to flee from a second-storey roof, according to The Times.
It came on the same day that security services warned of a possible second attack.
FBI experts have now begun fingerprint, DNA and forensic analysis near bodies crushed by rubble in a bullet-scarred mall to help identify victims and the gunmen.
It comes as ten Britons were yesterday thought to have died in the Nairobi mall massacre as it emerged the death toll could double to more than 130.
Six Britons are confirmed dead but investigators believe the bodies of at least another four UK citizens may be trapped under the collapsed Westgate complex.
Scotland Yard detectives were among the first into the remains of the mall yesterday seeking to identify the Britons – and terrorists.
Ongoing operation: Kenyan soldiers gather at the entrance to the mall. Ten Britons are thought to have died in the massacre as it emerged the death toll could double to more than 130
Probe: The FBI has begun fingerprint, DNA and forensic analysis to help identify victims and the gunmen
MALL TERROR GROUP KILL TWO POLICE ON SOMALI BORDER
The same extremist group that took over a Nairobi mall attacked a security post near the Somali border Thursday and killed two police officers, while promising the violence would continue until Kenyan troops were withdrawn from Somalia.
The leader of the Somalia-based al-Shabab, Ahmed Godane Shaykh Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, warned the Kenyan public there was no way they could 'withstand a war of attrition inside your own country,' in a new statement posted on the Internet late Wednesday.
'Make your choice today and withdraw all your forces,...' Godane said.
'Otherwise be prepared for an abundance of blood that will be spilt in your country, economic downfall and displacement.'
The current death toll is 72 and is likely to climb with uncounted bodies remaining in the wreckage of the mall.
Another 175 people were injured, including more than 60 who remain in hospital. At least 18 foreigners were among those killed.
Al-Shabab said foreigners were a 'legitimate target' and confirmed witness accounts that gunmen separated Muslims from other people and let the Muslims go free. The others were gunned down or taken hostage.
'The Mujahideen carried out a meticulous vetting process at the mall and have taken every possible precaution to separate the Muslims from the Kuffar (disbelievers) before carrying out their attack,' the group said in an email exchange with The Associated Press.
Witnesses have said gunmen rounded up people, asked questions about Islam that a Muslim would know and told the Muslims to leave the mall. Still, some Muslims were among the victims.
Also among those killed when the militants entered the mall on Saturday, firing assault rifles and throwing grenades, were six Britons and people from France, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China.
Asked if al-Shabab had intended to kill foreigners, the group said 'our target was to attack the Kenyan government on its soil and any part of the Kenyan territory is a legitimate target ... and Kenya should be held responsible for the loss of life, whether foreigners or local'.
Gathering evidence: Foreign forensic experts, flanked by Kenyan military personnel, check the perimeter walls around Westgate shopping centre
Grim task: A morgue worker waits outside in the grounds of the mortuary in Nairobi
Al-Shabab had threatened retaliation against Kenya for sending its troops into Somalia.
The group's leader, Ahmed Godane, said in a new audio statement that the attack was carried out in retaliation for the West's support for Kenya's Somalia invasion and the 'interest of their oil companies' - Somalia has untapped energy reserves. More attacks would come, Godane said, if Kenya did not withdraw its troops.
Although Kenya's foreign minister said earlier that 'two or three' American citizens may have been involved in the attack, a Western official said that after checking passport and refugee databases that there was not yet an indication any Americans were involved. Several US cities, notably Minneapolis, host large Somali-American communities.
The violence continued elsewhere yesterday. In the Kenyan town of Wajir, which lies along the border with Somalia, one person was killed and four wounded after a gunman opened fire and threw grenades, the Interior Ministry said.
Interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku said forensic experts from the US, Israel, Britain, Germany and Canada were taking part in trying to reconstruct the scene at the mall. He said results would not be ready for a week.
Mortuaries in Nairobi have been prepared for the last two days for a large influx of bodies still in the mall. Officials have said the shopping centre, which the terrorists held for four days, could hold dozens more bodies.
In mourning: Ghanaian soldiers carry the flag-draped coffin of celebrated poet, professor and ambassador Kofi Awoonor after his body was flown back from Kenya, at the airport in Accra, Ghana
Grief-stricken: Unidentified family members mourn as they arrive from Kenya accompanying the coffin of mall victim Kofi Awoonor, at the airport in Accra, Ghana
The government has confirmed 72 total deaths: 61 civilians, six security forces and five attackers. The Red Cross says 71 people remain missing.
At least 12 Muslims are among the civilians killed, according to The Times.
Al-Shabab said the Kenyan government assault team carried out 'a demolition' of the building, burying 137 hostages in the debris.
A government spokesman denied the claim and said Kenyan forces were clearing all rooms, firing as they moved and encountering no one.
The al-Shabab claim appeared to refer to the rocket-propelled grenades fired inside the Nakumatt department store, in the incident described by a government official.
In a series of tweets from a Twitter account believed to be genuine, al-Shabab also said that 'having failed to defeat the mujahideen inside the mall, the Kenyan govt disseminated chemical gases to end the siege'.
Kenyan government spokesman Manoah Esipisu said no chemical weapons were used - including tear gas - and that the collapse of floors in the mall was caused by a fire set by the terrorists.
Mr Lenku said there were no indications that a woman took part in the attack, despite persistent press speculation, and he said officials had not yet confirmed reports that the attackers had rented a shop inside the mall.
In another development, a British man was arrested in Kenya following the terrorist attack, the Foreign Office said.
British officials were ready to provide assistance to the man, the FO said. The man is believed to be in his 30s and a newspaper report said he was arrested on Monday as he tried to board a flight from Nairobi to Turkey with a bruised face and while acting suspiciously.
Kenya says 11 suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack, including at least seven at the airport.
The International Criminal Court in the Hague has said it is prepared to work with Kenya to bring the attackers to justice. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said while Kenya had primary jurisdiction in the murder of civilians in the mall, the atrocity could also fall under the court's remit.
The mall attack was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya since the 1998 al Qaida truck bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people.
Credit: Daily Mail
Credit: Daily Mail
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