What we know
Date of Westgate Mall Attack
- September 21, 2013
The Attackers
- The Islamist group Al-Shabaab from Somalia
Number of Dead
- According to the Kenya Government, the number of civilian deaths remained at 62 (Red Cross)
- Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku said the death toll from the terror attack remained at 67, comprising 57 Kenyans, two French, one Chinese, one Ghanaian, one Canadian, one Korean, one Australian, one South African, one Peru national and one from Netherlands.
- Five attackers were also killed. Reuters
Number of Missing
- KRCS tracing desks still has 39 open files on inquiries of missing persons from members of the public
Number of Suspects in Custody
- 9 (Joseph Ole Lenku)
- This suspects were not capture at the mall but most at the airport or at other undisclosed locations.
US Travel Advisory
- Given on Sept 27, 2013 – travel.state.gov
- The U.S. government continues to receive information about potential terrorist threats aimed at U.S., Western, and Kenyan interests in Kenya, including in the Nairobi area and in the coastal city of Mombasa.
What is probably true
Number of Attackers:
- 5 or 6
- Although reports range from anywhere from 5-6 to 20-30 most credible reports place the number at 5 or 6
How did the roof collapse?
- KDF firing RPG’s inside the building
- No official response on this one but no one seems to be offering another viable alternative.
Did Looting occur at the Mall by Kenyan Troops?
- YES
Looted Shops include:
- Jewelry Store
- Phone Store (see picture below)
- Nakumat
See
- Mall shopkeepers suspect Kenyan troops in thefts – Houston Chronicle
Did the Kenyan Government have information of a possible terrorist attack?
- YES
- Israel had warned the government that Israelis were likely to be attacked between September 4 and 28 – Daily Nation
- A number of Kenya’s Cabinet members and defense officials were warned about the possibility that the terror group Al-Shabaab was planning to carry out a Westgate-style attack a year before gunman stormed the Nairobi mall, according to several police and intelligence sources. CNN
What we don’t know
Where are the 39 Missing People?
Several Choices here:
- Either the count is wrong or
- people are still buried in the rubble or
- an update death toll has not been released to the public.
- Ole Lenku said: “It is the government position that there were no hostages and we managed to rescue all the people who were in the building.” – Reuters
Did the Attackers Escape?
- Probably NO
- Responding to reports that some of the terrorists escaped through an underground tunnel, Mr. Ole Lenku said no suspect managed to escape as security forces had secured all the exit routes.
Are the Attackers Dead?
- Probably YES
- 5 attackers are reported killed. Reuters
- but NO proof and NO identification of even one of the attackers
- They were probably either killed by the KDF or by the collapsing building but the lack of any proof is concerning.
- Harun Maruf (@harunmaruf) 9/30/2013, 4:23 PM – Source: “#Umeer” the militant leader who “organised” #Westgate attack was “fatally wounded” by a shrapnel from a hand grenade he threw.
Did the Attacks Live Tweet the Attack?
- UNCONFIRMED
- These accounts did post information – @HSMPress, @HSMPress1 and @HSM_Press. They appear to belong to the Somalia-based organization with al-Qaeda links
- However, no evidence released that these were the actual attackers – this could have been others merely re-tweeting based on other media and twitter information
Role of the White Widow – Samantha Lewthwaite
- UNCONFIRMED
So much speculation and contradictory information including:
- A shop worker says a woman resembling “white widow” Samantha Lewthwaite sprayed her with machine-gun bullets – IOL News
- White Widow’ Allegedly Smeared Blood On Her Face to escape Authorities – Belfast Telegraph
- White Widow rented shop in Kenyan mall attacked by terrorists – Irish Central
- Somalia’s al-Shabaab Islamists have insisted that no women joined them in an attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall.
Nothing is confirmed – Wait and Verify
Is there an Interpol arrest warrant for Samantha Lewthwaite? YES – TRUE
- An INTERPOL Red Notice, or internationally wanted persons alert, has been issued for UK national Samantha Lewthwaite at the request of authorities in Kenya.
- Lewthwaite, aged 29, who is also believed to use the alias ‘Natalie Webb’, is wanted by Kenya on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011.
Were the hostages tortured?
- UNCONFIRMED
- Horrific reports have been told including “Victims Raped, Beheaded, Castrated, Eyes Gouged Out, Hung From Ceiling and Set On Fire” However all reports quote the same source. We cannot verify this.
However
- Military doctors said militants severed hands, cut off noses and, in some cases, hanged hostages. CNN has seen photographic evidence of one dead victim with a hand amputated. CNN
