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Monday 21 October 2013

'They let us down': Kenyan military face backlash over CCTV footage of soldiers 'looting terror mall' as the slaughter unfolded

Looters: Footage shows Kenyan soldiers walking through the devastated mall carrying bags containing the goods they stole
Security camera footage of soldiers appearing to loot goods during last month's Nairobi shopping mall siege has infuriated Kenyans who had initially praised troops for their courage in battling the Somali attackers.
Gunmen from the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group massacred at least 67 people when they raided the upmarket Westgate mall, hurling grenades and spraying bullets at shoppers as a punishment for Kenya sending troops to Somalia.
Kenya's security forces have previously denied any wrongdoing.
Looters: Footage shows Kenyan soldiers walking through the devastated mall carrying bags containing the goods they stole
Looters: Footage shows Kenyan soldiers walking through the devastated mall carrying bags containing the goods they stole
Callous: The men appear totally oblivious to the blood stains on the mall floor where a victim was shot dead by a terrorist only hours before
Callous: The men appear totally oblivious to the blood stains on the mall floor where a victim was shot dead by a terrorist only hours before
Caught on camera:
Caught on camera: Kenya's security forces have previously denied any wrongdoing
Packed: A group of Kenyan soldiers walk past the store many carrying full white shopping bags
Packed: A group of Kenyan soldiers walk past the store many carrying full white shopping bags

Soon after the attack began Kenyan officials put a security cordon around the mall, allowing only security forces and a few government personnel to pass through. When the attack was over, some who owned shops inside the mall complained of looting.
Closed-circuit television footage obtained by Reuters shows soldiers taking goods that appear to be unpacked mobile phone boxes from a phone store while others are in a mobile money transfer shop.

A couple of metres from the shop, a pool of spattered blood identifies the spot where a wounded man, crawling on the floor, was shot five times at point-blank range by an unidentified gunman, another scene captured on video.
Chilling: Surveillance footage has emerged of the moment a gunman shot down a shopper in the Kenyan mall attack last month
Chilling: Surveillance footage has emerged of the moment a gunman shot down a shopper in the Kenyan mall attack last month - the same shop appears to have been looted by soldiers hours later 

Meanwhile, mobile phones were ripped from displays, cash registers emptied, and even alcohol stocks plundered, according to AP reporters at the scene after the siege ended.
Soldiers with plastic shopping bags are also seen leaving the Nakumatt supermarket, where prosperous Kenyans could buy anything from TV sets to French cheese, at a time when the Islamist rebels were still holed up inside the mall.
Emmanuel Chirchir, a spokesman for the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), said today that a news conference, organised for Wednesday, would deal with looting allegations arising from the latest CCTV footage to emerge.
Diplomats and Kenyan official now believe that the attack may have involved as few as four to six gunmen, down from initial estimates of more than 10.
CCTV footage (not pictured) has emerged showing Kenyan Defence Force soldiers looting shops during the terror attack at the West mall in Nairobi
CCTV footage (not pictured) has emerged showing Kenyan Defence Force soldiers looting shops during the terror attack at the West mall in Nairobi
The FoneXpress computer shop on the ground floor of the Westgate Mall from which soldiers are reported to have stolen phones
The FoneXpress computer shop on the ground floor of the Westgate Mall from which soldiers are reported to have stolen phones

University of Nairobi student Ndeva Vitalis said findings by a parliamentary committee set up to probe the four-day siege, which on Thursday exonerated soldiers of looting, were a lie.
'CCTV is the truth,' Vitalis said.
Although the committee said the KDF 'never participated in looting', local press have criticised what until now has been considered one of Kenya's most professional institutions.
Many Kenyans, used to scandals and cover-ups by a corrupt political elite, doubt they will find out exactly what happened during the siege.
'The CCTV footage made me lose faith in KDF, who we all strongly supported after they crushed al Shabaab in Somalia,' said one Nairobi-based doctor who did not want to be identified. 
'Now there is some sort of a cover up taking place.'
The shattered window of the Millionaires Casino in Westgate Mall. Soldiers are reported to have partly looted the building while terrorists were holed up on the second floor
The shattered window of the Millionaires Casino in Westgate Mall. Soldiers are reported to have partly looted the building while terrorists were holed up on the second floor
Terror: A gunman aims his rifle inside a store during the attack in this still frame taken from video footage by security cameras inside the mall
Terror: A gunman aims his rifle inside a store during the attack in this still frame taken from video footage by security cameras inside the mall

The September 21 attack - the worst on Kenyan soil since al Qaeda bombed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, killing more than 200 people - initially united Kenya's multi-ethnic community and sparked an outpouring of support for the military.
But support for security services evaporated as shop owners returned to the mall to find their stores ransacked, with many reporting phones, expensive Swiss watches and designer suits stolen. Cash from tills was also missing, traders said.
'It was an injustice. These are people that we are looking up to for security and they let us down,' said Anne Njiru, a teacher.
Public servants in Kenya - including police, firefighters and soldiers - are poorly paid and frequently accused of corruption. 
An investigation into a massive fire at Nairobi's airport in August revealed that first responders had looted electronics, a bank and an ATM during and after the blaze.
Kenya's Interior Minister Ole Lenku also announced three bodies of 'terror suspects' had been recovered from the mall during the week and today the body of what was believed to be a fourth attacker was pulled from the rubble.
Lenku said the government would not comment on the nationalities of the attackers until forensic investigations were complete. Four AK47 assault rifles and 11 magazines used by the gunmen were also recovered, he added in a statement.

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