Sudanese man led terror attack on Kenya’s Westgate mall: military
October 06, 2013(NAIROBI) – The Kenyan military on Saturday named, Abu Baara al-Sudani, a Sudanese national, leader of the terrorists who struck the Westgate mall in Nairobi on September 21, killing 67 people and injuring 175.
The Somali militant group, Al-Shabaab claimed the attack.
Kenyan authorities released last Saturday a video footage showing four armed militants inside the Westgate mall. A Sudanese was among them, according to the spokesperson for the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Major Emmanuel Chirchir
Chirchir said Abu Baara Al-Sudani who was killed when Kenyan forces stormed the mall was an al Qaeda trained terrorist.
He further added that a Somali, and a Kenyan Arab where among the four terrorists who attacked the mall.
“I confirm these were the terrorists. They all died in the raid”, Chirchir told Reuters on Saturday.
The Kenya military spokesperson pointed out that Al Sudani, which means “the Sudanese” was leader of the group shown on footage captured by closed-circuit TV cameras in the mall.
The Kenyan government initially said the attack was carried out by between 10 to 15 terrorists but now says the number was between four to six.
Two weeks after the attack, the spot light has changed to the performance of the Kenyan security services in handling the siege.
The Kenyan army has been accused of looting shops in the mall. The government says it’s investigating the claims and has called on members of the public with information on the misconduct of soldiers to report to the authorities.
The Kenyan police has released two pictures of terror suspects thought to have had a role in the Westgate attack and offered a cash reward for anyone with information that could lead to their arrest.
Meanwhile the US army on Saturday raided a sea side villa in the Southern Somali town of Barawe. An Al-Shabaab leader suspected to have been the planner of the Westgate attack was said to have been in the villa.
The US army attack was carried out by the Navy Seal- the same group that killed Al- Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
The US commandos, according to the reports however aborted the mission when they came under heavy gunfire from the Al-Shabaab.
(ST)