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| Photo: Capital FM Kenya Defence Forces release their report on Westgate terror attacks in Nairobi (file photo). |
THE four terrorists involved in the
Westgate mall attack refused to negotiate before they were killed, according to
the final report of the Kenya Defence Forces.
By the end of the four-day operation
in September, five soldiers and policemen had died. Four charred bodies,
suspected to be those of the terrorists, were recovered at the mall.
Four AK47 rifles, eighteen AK47
magazines, twenty eight pamphlets on hostage taking, three empty metal
ammunition boxes, two four-way communication equipment, two machetes and a huge
amount of 5.56mm ammunition were recovered.
According to the KDF confidential
report, the terrorists rebuffed attempts to negotiate by members of the task
force comprising the Interior secretary Joseph Ole Lenku, Defence secretary
Raychelle Omamo, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, Chief of Defense
Forces Gen Julius Karangi, National Intelligence Security director general
Michael Gichangi, CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro, Nairobi governor Evans Kidero, his
deputy and a Kenya Red Cross representative.
The 21-page report entitled Conduct
of Operation by KDF reveals that the army used heavy weapons after the
terrorists rebuffed efforts to negotiate.
Instead, on the second day of the
siege, they shot several members of the Ranger Strike Force and the Special
Force who had been deployed at the mall.
The terrorists lobbed two grenades
at soldiers from 20 paramilitary unit and 75 artillery battalion injuring two
soldiers in the legs as they were retrieving the bodies of eight people on the
first floor of the mall. The soldiers also rescued a woman hidden in the boot
of her vehicle KAD 264D in the basement parking.
The report says that the KDF then
decided to use heavy caliber weapons including 84mm anti tank ammunition,
Pulemyot Kalashnikov Machinegun (PKM) and rocket propelled grenades to flush
out the terrorists as the special forces were sequentially clearing the third
and fourth floors.
The report says the terrorists lit
fire on the first floor of Nakumatt supermarket to block the soldiers as they
advanced.
The fire caused a blackout that
slowed down the operation until a generator was brought to the site.
On the third day, 40 members of the
elite Ranger Strike Force and 30 Special Forces members launched an early
morning assault. Two soldiers were shot dead and a third one was shot in the
hand as he tried to retrieve the bodies of his fallen colleagues.
The attackers then started yet
another fire to slow down the operation. Two attempted to escape from the rear
of the building but were forced back by soldiers who had placed an outer
security cordon around the building. One was shot and injured but managed to
re-enter the building where they are believed to have died.
"Following the intensity of the
fire, the second floor car park caved in,” the report says.
The report, to be presented soon to
President Uhuru Kenyatta, says the terrorists were defeated by midnight on
Monday, September 23. The clearance of the mall started the next day.
“At end of the Day 1 (September 21),
it became apparent that there were no hostages in the building save for persons
who were hiding in fear of being killed. However, there were several callers
most of them fake, who kept the multi-agency committee busy with unverifiable
presence of various ‘hostages’ in various floors,” the report says.
At the time, even on September 23,
ole Lenku was reported as saying there were at least 30 hostages held within
the mall.
The report denies reports that there
was any confrontation between KDF soldiers and GSU Recce squad officers who
started the operation to clear the terrorists from the mall.
“Transition between the KDF and the
General Service Unit (GSU) Recce team when the KDF troops arrived was smooth
and therefore by the time the GSU team vacated the building at about 5 pm the
agencies operated professionally and had managed to subdue the terrorists,” the
report reveals.
Gen Karangi informed Defence
Secretary Omamo, the Army Commander Lieutenant General Joseph Kasaon and senior
KDF officer about the terror attack at 2 pm, 90 minutes after it started.
Karangi instructed Kaason to
mobilise troops to Westgate. First to be deployed were 20 Para Battalion who
had been at Langata preparing for Mashujaa day and who arrived at 4 pm.
The Kenya army also deployed four
armored personnel carriers and two planes while the air force and the police
each sent a helicopter.
The ad hoc multi-agency security
committee comprising the police, KDF, NIS, emergency and rescue agencies, and
Nairobi county government was supposed to collect the contact details and
screen all rescued persons, and guard and interrogate the wounded in hospitals.
The Special Forces commandos and
Ranger Special Force arrived at 5.20 pm and were ordered to clear the first
floor of the shopping mall. One policeman involved in the operation was shot.
They rescued between 20 and 30
people hiding in the Airtel shop. They found five bodies on the first floor and
12 more bodies in the Nakumatt cold room. Seven people who were rescued said
that the terrorists had moved to the storage room.
The report says the first reported
instance of looting happened on the fourth day of the siege when a fireman
identified as Wanjiru Wilson Kabira P/No. 68435 was intercepted by soldiers as
he tried to loot mobile phones, cameras and chargers. He was ordered to return
them to where he had picked them .
The KDF has denied its personnel
were involved in the looting despite CCTV footage showing the soldiers walking
into the supermarket, rifling in drawers and cash registers before walking out
with plastic bags containing unknown items. Subsequently, the military
explained the bags contained bottled water which the soldiers had been
instructed to take from the supermarket shelves.
Source: the-star.co.ke
THE four terrorists involved in the Westgate mall attack refused to negotiate before they were killed, according to the final report of the Kenya Defence Forces.
By the end of the four-day operation in September, five soldiers and
policemen had died. Four charred bodies, suspected to be those of the
terrorists, were recovered at the mall.
Four AK47 rifles, eighteen AK47 magazines, twenty eight pamphlets on hostage taking, three empty metal ammunition boxes, two four-way communication equipment, two machetes and a huge amount of 5.56mm ammunition were recovered.
According to the KDF confidential report, the terrorists rebuffed attempts to negotiate by members of the task force comprising the Interior secretary Joseph Ole Lenku, Defence secretary
Raychelle Omamo, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, Chief of
Defense Forces Gen Julius Karangi, National Intelligence Security
director general Michael Gichangi, CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro, Nairobi
governor Evans Kidero, his deputy and a Kenya Red Cross representative.
The 21-page report entitled Conduct of Operation by KDF reveals that
the army used heavy weapons after the terrorists rebuffed efforts to
negotiate.
Instead, on the second day of the siege, they shot several members of
the Ranger Strike Force and the Special Force who had been deployed at
the mall.
The terrorists lobbed two grenades at soldiers from 20 paramilitary
unit and 75 artillery battalion injuring two soldiers in the legs as
they were retrieving the bodies of eight people on the first floor of the mall. The soldiers also rescued a woman hidden in the boot of her vehicle KAD 264D in the basement parking.
The report says that the KDF then decided to use heavy caliber
weapons including 84mm anti tank ammunition, Pulemyot Kalashnikov
Machinegun (PKM) and rocket propelled grenades to flush out the
terrorists as the special forces were sequentially clearing the third
and fourth floors.
The report says the terrorists lit fire on the first floor of Nakumatt supermarket to block the soldiers as they advanced.
The fire caused a blackout that slowed down the operation until a generator was brought to the site.
On the third day, 40 members of the elite Ranger Strike Force and 30
Special Forces members launched an early morning assault. Two soldiers
were shot dead and a third one was shot in the hand as he tried to
retrieve the bodies of his fallen colleagues.
The attackers then started yet another fire to slow down the
operation. Two attempted to escape from the rear of the building but
were forced back by soldiers who had placed an outer security cordon
around the building. One was shot and injured but managed to re-enter
the building where they are believed to have died.
"Following the intensity of the fire, the second floor car park caved in,” the report says.
The report, to be presented soon to President Uhuru Kenyatta, says
the terrorists were defeated by midnight on Monday, September 23. The
clearance of the mall started the next day.
“At end of the Day 1 (September 21), it became apparent that there
were no hostages in the building save for persons who were hiding in
fear of being killed. However, there were several callers most of them
fake, who kept the multi-agency committee busy with unverifiable
presence of various ‘hostages’ in various floors,” the report says.
At the time, even on September 23, ole Lenku was reported as saying there were at least 30 hostages held within the mall.
The report denies reports that there was any confrontation between
KDF soldiers and GSU Recce squad officers who started the operation to
clear the terrorists from the mall.
“Transition between the KDF and the General Service Unit (GSU) Recce
team when the KDF troops arrived was smooth and therefore by the time
the GSU team vacated the building at about 5 pm the agencies operated
professionally and had managed to subdue the terrorists,” the report
reveals.
Gen Karangi informed Defence Secretary Omamo, the Army Commander
Lieutenant General Joseph Kasaon and senior KDF officer about the terror
attack at 2 pm, 90 minutes after it started.
Karangi instructed Kaason to mobilise troops to Westgate. First to be
deployed were 20 Para Battalion who had been at Langata preparing for
Mashujaa day and who arrived at 4 pm.
The Kenya army also deployed four armored personnel carriers and two
planes while the air force and the police each sent a helicopter.
The ad hoc multi-agency security committee comprising the police,
KDF, NIS, emergency and rescue agencies, and Nairobi county government
was supposed to collect the contact details and screen all rescued
persons, and guard and interrogate the wounded in hospitals.
The Special Forces commandos and Ranger Special Force arrived at 5.20
pm and were ordered to clear the first floor of the shopping mall. One
policeman involved in the operation was shot.
They rescued between 20 and 30 people hiding in the Airtel shop. They
found five bodies on the first floor and 12 more bodies in the Nakumatt
cold room. Seven people who were rescued said that the terrorists had
moved to the storage room.
The report says the first reported instance of looting happened on
the fourth day of the siege when a fireman identified as Wanjiru Wilson
Kabira P/No. 68435 was intercepted by soldiers as he tried to loot
mobile phones, cameras and chargers. He was ordered to return them to
where he had picked them .
The KDF has denied its personnel were involved in the looting despite
CCTV footage showing the soldiers walking into the supermarket, rifling
in drawers and cash registers before walking out with plastic bags
containing unknown items. Subsequently, the military explained the bags
contained bottled water which the soldiers had been instructed to take
from the supermarket shelves.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-149554/kdf-makes-westgate-report#sthash.dJCwvl6p.dpuf
THE four terrorists involved in the Westgate mall attack refused to negotiate before they were killed, according to the final report of the Kenya Defence Forces.
By the end of the four-day operation in September, five soldiers and
policemen had died. Four charred bodies, suspected to be those of the
terrorists, were recovered at the mall.
Four AK47 rifles, eighteen AK47 magazines, twenty eight pamphlets on hostage taking, three empty
metal ammunition boxes, two four-way communication equipment, two machetes and a huge amount of 5.56mm ammunition were recovered.
According to the KDF confidential report, the terrorists rebuffed attempts to negotiate by members of the
task force comprising the Interior secretary Joseph Ole Lenku,
Defence secretary
Raychelle Omamo, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, Chief of
Defense Forces Gen Julius Karangi, National Intelligence Security
director general Michael Gichangi, CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro, Nairobi
governor Evans Kidero, his deputy and a Kenya Red Cross representative.
The 21-page report entitled Conduct of Operation by KDF reveals that
the army used heavy weapons after the terrorists rebuffed efforts to
negotiate.
Instead, on the second day of the siege, they shot several members of
the Ranger Strike Force and the Special Force who had been deployed at
the mall.
The terrorists lobbed two grenades at soldiers from 20 paramilitary
unit and 75 artillery battalion injuring two soldiers in the legs as
they were retrieving the bodies of eight people on the
first floor of the mall. The soldiers also rescued a woman hidden in the boot of her vehicle KAD 264D in the basement parking.
The report says that the KDF then decided to use heavy caliber
weapons including 84mm anti tank ammunition, Pulemyot Kalashnikov
Machinegun (PKM) and rocket propelled grenades to flush out the
terrorists as the special forces were sequentially clearing the third
and fourth floors.
The report says the terrorists lit fire on the first floor of Nakumatt supermarket to block the soldiers as they advanced.
The fire caused a blackout that slowed down the operation until a generator was brought to the site.
On the third day, 40 members of the elite Ranger Strike Force and 30
Special Forces members launched an early morning assault. Two soldiers
were shot dead and a third one was shot in the hand as he tried to
retrieve the bodies of his fallen colleagues.
The attackers then started yet another fire to slow down the
operation. Two attempted to escape from the rear of the building but
were forced back by soldiers who had placed an outer security cordon
around the building. One was shot and injured but managed to re-enter
the building where they are believed to have died.
"Following the intensity of the fire, the second floor car park caved in,” the report says.
The report, to be presented soon to President Uhuru Kenyatta, says
the terrorists were defeated by midnight on Monday, September 23. The
clearance of the mall started the next day.
“At end of the Day 1 (September 21), it became apparent that there
were no hostages in the building save for persons who were hiding in
fear of being killed. However, there were several callers most of them
fake, who kept the multi-agency committee busy with unverifiable
presence of various ‘hostages’ in various floors,” the report says.
At the time, even on September 23, ole Lenku was reported as saying there were at least 30 hostages held within the mall.
The report denies reports that there was any confrontation between
KDF soldiers and GSU Recce squad officers who started the operation to
clear the terrorists from the mall.
“Transition between the KDF and the General Service Unit (GSU) Recce
team when the KDF troops arrived was smooth and therefore by the time
the GSU team vacated the building at about 5 pm the agencies operated
professionally and had managed to subdue the terrorists,” the report
reveals.
Gen Karangi informed Defence Secretary Omamo, the Army Commander
Lieutenant General Joseph Kasaon and senior KDF officer about the terror
attack at 2 pm, 90 minutes after it started.
Karangi instructed Kaason to mobilise troops to Westgate. First to be
deployed were 20 Para Battalion who had been at Langata preparing for
Mashujaa day and who arrived at 4 pm.
The Kenya army also deployed four armored personnel carriers and two
planes while the air force and the police each sent a helicopter.
The ad hoc multi-agency security committee comprising the police,
KDF, NIS, emergency and rescue agencies, and Nairobi county government
was supposed to collect the contact details and screen all rescued
persons, and guard and interrogate the wounded in hospitals.
The Special Forces commandos and Ranger Special Force arrived at 5.20
pm and were ordered to clear the first floor of the shopping mall. One
policeman involved in the operation was shot.
They rescued between 20 and 30 people hiding in the Airtel shop. They
found five bodies on the first floor and 12 more bodies in the Nakumatt
cold room. Seven people who were rescued said that the terrorists had
moved to the storage room.
The report says the first reported instance of looting happened on
the fourth day of the siege when a fireman identified as Wanjiru Wilson
Kabira P/No. 68435 was intercepted by soldiers as he tried to loot
mobile phones, cameras and chargers. He was ordered to return them to
where he had picked them .
The KDF has denied its personnel were involved in the looting despite
CCTV footage showing the soldiers walking into the supermarket, rifling
in drawers and cash registers before walking out with plastic bags
containing unknown items. Subsequently, the military explained the bags
contained bottled water which the soldiers had been instructed to take
from the supermarket shelves.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-149554/kdf-makes-westgate-report#sthash.dJCwvl6p.dpuf
THE four terrorists involved in the Westgate mall attack refused to negotiate before they were killed, according to the final report of the Kenya Defence Forces.
By the end of the four-day operation in September, five soldiers and
policemen had died. Four charred bodies, suspected to be those of the
terrorists, were recovered at the mall.
Four AK47 rifles, eighteen AK47 magazines, twenty eight pamphlets on hostage taking, three empty metal ammunition boxes, two four-way communication equipment, two machetes and a huge amount of 5.56mm ammunition were recovered.
According to the KDF confidential report, the terrorists rebuffed attempts to negotiate by members of the task force comprising the Interior secretary Joseph Ole Lenku, Defence secretary
Raychelle Omamo, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, Chief of
Defense Forces Gen Julius Karangi, National Intelligence Security
director general Michael Gichangi, CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro, Nairobi
governor Evans Kidero, his deputy and a Kenya Red Cross representative.
The 21-page report entitled Conduct of Operation by KDF reveals that
the army used heavy weapons after the terrorists rebuffed efforts to
negotiate.
Instead, on the second day of the siege, they shot several members of
the Ranger Strike Force and the Special Force who had been deployed at
the mall.
The terrorists lobbed two grenades at soldiers from 20 paramilitary
unit and 75 artillery battalion injuring two soldiers in the legs as
they were retrieving the bodies of eight people on the first floor of the mall. The soldiers also rescued a woman hidden in the boot of her vehicle KAD 264D in the basement parking.
The report says that the KDF then decided to use heavy caliber
weapons including 84mm anti tank ammunition, Pulemyot Kalashnikov
Machinegun (PKM) and rocket propelled grenades to flush out the
terrorists as the special forces were sequentially clearing the third
and fourth floors.
The report says the terrorists lit fire on the first floor of Nakumatt supermarket to block the soldiers as they advanced.
The fire caused a blackout that slowed down the operation until a generator was brought to the site.
On the third day, 40 members of the elite Ranger Strike Force and 30
Special Forces members launched an early morning assault. Two soldiers
were shot dead and a third one was shot in the hand as he tried to
retrieve the bodies of his fallen colleagues.
The attackers then started yet another fire to slow down the
operation. Two attempted to escape from the rear of the building but
were forced back by soldiers who had placed an outer security cordon
around the building. One was shot and injured but managed to re-enter
the building where they are believed to have died.
"Following the intensity of the fire, the second floor car park caved in,” the report says.
The report, to be presented soon to President Uhuru Kenyatta, says
the terrorists were defeated by midnight on Monday, September 23. The
clearance of the mall started the next day.
“At end of the Day 1 (September 21), it became apparent that there
were no hostages in the building save for persons who were hiding in
fear of being killed. However, there were several callers most of them
fake, who kept the multi-agency committee busy with unverifiable
presence of various ‘hostages’ in various floors,” the report says.
At the time, even on September 23, ole Lenku was reported as saying there were at least 30 hostages held within the mall.
The report denies reports that there was any confrontation between
KDF soldiers and GSU Recce squad officers who started the operation to
clear the terrorists from the mall.
“Transition between the KDF and the General Service Unit (GSU) Recce
team when the KDF troops arrived was smooth and therefore by the time
the GSU team vacated the building at about 5 pm the agencies operated
professionally and had managed to subdue the terrorists,” the report
reveals.
Gen Karangi informed Defence Secretary Omamo, the Army Commander
Lieutenant General Joseph Kasaon and senior KDF officer about the terror
attack at 2 pm, 90 minutes after it started.
Karangi instructed Kaason to mobilise troops to Westgate. First to be
deployed were 20 Para Battalion who had been at Langata preparing for
Mashujaa day and who arrived at 4 pm.
The Kenya army also deployed four armored personnel carriers and two
planes while the air force and the police each sent a helicopter.
The ad hoc multi-agency security committee comprising the police,
KDF, NIS, emergency and rescue agencies, and Nairobi county government
was supposed to collect the contact details and screen all rescued
persons, and guard and interrogate the wounded in hospitals.
The Special Forces commandos and Ranger Special Force arrived at 5.20
pm and were ordered to clear the first floor of the shopping mall. One
policeman involved in the operation was shot.
They rescued between 20 and 30 people hiding in the Airtel shop. They
found five bodies on the first floor and 12 more bodies in the Nakumatt
cold room. Seven people who were rescued said that the terrorists had
moved to the storage room.
The report says the first reported instance of looting happened on
the fourth day of the siege when a fireman identified as Wanjiru Wilson
Kabira P/No. 68435 was intercepted by soldiers as he tried to loot
mobile phones, cameras and chargers. He was ordered to return them to
where he had picked them .
The KDF has denied its personnel were involved in the looting despite
CCTV footage showing the soldiers walking into the supermarket, rifling
in drawers and cash registers before walking out with plastic bags
containing unknown items. Subsequently, the military explained the bags
contained bottled water which the soldiers had been instructed to take
from the supermarket shelves.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-149554/kdf-makes-westgate-report#sthash.dJCwvl6p.dpuf
THE four terrorists involved in the Westgate mall attack refused to negotiate before they were killed, according to the final report of the Kenya Defence Forces.
By the end of the four-day operation in September, five soldiers and
policemen had died. Four charred bodies, suspected to be those of the
terrorists, were recovered at the mall.
Four AK47 rifles, eighteen AK47 magazines, twenty eight pamphlets on hostage taking, three empty metal ammunition boxes, two four-way communication equipment, two machetes and a huge amount of 5.56mm ammunition were recovered.
According to the KDF confidential report, the terrorists rebuffed attempts to negotiate by members of the task force comprising the Interior secretary Joseph Ole Lenku, Defence secretary
Raychelle Omamo, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, Chief of
Defense Forces Gen Julius Karangi, National Intelligence Security
director general Michael Gichangi, CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro, Nairobi
governor Evans Kidero, his deputy and a Kenya Red Cross representative.
The 21-page report entitled Conduct of Operation by KDF reveals that
the army used heavy weapons after the terrorists rebuffed efforts to
negotiate.
Instead, on the second day of the siege, they shot several members of
the Ranger Strike Force and the Special Force who had been deployed at
the mall.
The terrorists lobbed two grenades at soldiers from 20 paramilitary
unit and 75 artillery battalion injuring two soldiers in the legs as
they were retrieving the bodies of eight people on the first floor of the mall. The soldiers also rescued a woman hidden in the boot of her vehicle KAD 264D in the basement parking.
The report says that the KDF then decided to use heavy caliber
weapons including 84mm anti tank ammunition, Pulemyot Kalashnikov
Machinegun (PKM) and rocket propelled grenades to flush out the
terrorists as the special forces were sequentially clearing the third
and fourth floors.
The report says the terrorists lit fire on the first floor of Nakumatt supermarket to block the soldiers as they advanced.
The fire caused a blackout that slowed down the operation until a generator was brought to the site.
On the third day, 40 members of the elite Ranger Strike Force and 30
Special Forces members launched an early morning assault. Two soldiers
were shot dead and a third one was shot in the hand as he tried to
retrieve the bodies of his fallen colleagues.
The attackers then started yet another fire to slow down the
operation. Two attempted to escape from the rear of the building but
were forced back by soldiers who had placed an outer security cordon
around the building. One was shot and injured but managed to re-enter
the building where they are believed to have died.
"Following the intensity of the fire, the second floor car park caved in,” the report says.
The report, to be presented soon to President Uhuru Kenyatta, says
the terrorists were defeated by midnight on Monday, September 23. The
clearance of the mall started the next day.
“At end of the Day 1 (September 21), it became apparent that there
were no hostages in the building save for persons who were hiding in
fear of being killed. However, there were several callers most of them
fake, who kept the multi-agency committee busy with unverifiable
presence of various ‘hostages’ in various floors,” the report says.
At the time, even on September 23, ole Lenku was reported as saying there were at least 30 hostages held within the mall.
The report denies reports that there was any confrontation between
KDF soldiers and GSU Recce squad officers who started the operation to
clear the terrorists from the mall.
“Transition between the KDF and the General Service Unit (GSU) Recce
team when the KDF troops arrived was smooth and therefore by the time
the GSU team vacated the building at about 5 pm the agencies operated
professionally and had managed to subdue the terrorists,” the report
reveals.
Gen Karangi informed Defence Secretary Omamo, the Army Commander
Lieutenant General Joseph Kasaon and senior KDF officer about the terror
attack at 2 pm, 90 minutes after it started.
Karangi instructed Kaason to mobilise troops to Westgate. First to be
deployed were 20 Para Battalion who had been at Langata preparing for
Mashujaa day and who arrived at 4 pm.
The Kenya army also deployed four armored personnel carriers and two
planes while the air force and the police each sent a helicopter.
The ad hoc multi-agency security committee comprising the police,
KDF, NIS, emergency and rescue agencies, and Nairobi county government
was supposed to collect the contact details and screen all rescued
persons, and guard and interrogate the wounded in hospitals.
The Special Forces commandos and Ranger Special Force arrived at 5.20
pm and were ordered to clear the first floor of the shopping mall. One
policeman involved in the operation was shot.
They rescued between 20 and 30 people hiding in the Airtel shop. They
found five bodies on the first floor and 12 more bodies in the Nakumatt
cold room. Seven people who were rescued said that the terrorists had
moved to the storage room.
The report says the first reported instance of looting happened on
the fourth day of the siege when a fireman identified as Wanjiru Wilson
Kabira P/No. 68435 was intercepted by soldiers as he tried to loot
mobile phones, cameras and chargers. He was ordered to return them to
where he had picked them .
The KDF has denied its personnel were involved in the looting despite
CCTV footage showing the soldiers walking into the supermarket, rifling
in drawers and cash registers before walking out with plastic bags
containing unknown items. Subsequently, the military explained the bags
contained bottled water which the soldiers had been instructed to take
from the supermarket shelves.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-149554/kdf-makes-westgate-report#sthash.dJCwvl6p.dpuf
THE four terrorists involved in the Westgate mall attack refused to negotiate before they were killed, according to the final report of the Kenya Defence Forces.
By the end of the four-day operation in September, five soldiers and
policemen had died. Four charred bodies, suspected to be those of the
terrorists, were recovered at the mall.
Four AK47 rifles, eighteen AK47 magazines, twenty eight pamphlets on hostage taking, three empty
metal ammunition boxes, two four-way communication equipment, two machetes and a huge amount of 5.56mm ammunition were recovered.
According to the KDF confidential report, the terrorists rebuffed attempts to negotiate by members of the
task force comprising the Interior secretary Joseph Ole Lenku,
Defence secretary
Raychelle Omamo, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, Chief of
Defense Forces Gen Julius Karangi, National Intelligence Security
director general Michael Gichangi, CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro, Nairobi
governor Evans Kidero, his deputy and a Kenya Red Cross representative.
The 21-page report entitled Conduct of Operation by KDF reveals that
the army used heavy weapons after the terrorists rebuffed efforts to
negotiate.
Instead, on the second day of the siege, they shot several members of
the Ranger Strike Force and the Special Force who had been deployed at
the mall.
The terrorists lobbed two grenades at soldiers from 20 paramilitary
unit and 75 artillery battalion injuring two soldiers in the legs as
they were retrieving the bodies of eight people on the
first floor of the mall. The soldiers also rescued a woman hidden in the boot of her vehicle KAD 264D in the basement parking.
The report says that the KDF then decided to use heavy caliber
weapons including 84mm anti tank ammunition, Pulemyot Kalashnikov
Machinegun (PKM) and rocket propelled grenades to flush out the
terrorists as the special forces were sequentially clearing the third
and fourth floors.
The report says the terrorists lit fire on the first floor of Nakumatt supermarket to block the soldiers as they advanced.
The fire caused a blackout that slowed down the operation until a generator was brought to the site.
On the third day, 40 members of the elite Ranger Strike Force and 30
Special Forces members launched an early morning assault. Two soldiers
were shot dead and a third one was shot in the hand as he tried to
retrieve the bodies of his fallen colleagues.
The attackers then started yet another fire to slow down the
operation. Two attempted to escape from the rear of the building but
were forced back by soldiers who had placed an outer security cordon
around the building. One was shot and injured but managed to re-enter
the building where they are believed to have died.
"Following the intensity of the fire, the second floor car park caved in,” the report says.
The report, to be presented soon to President Uhuru Kenyatta, says
the terrorists were defeated by midnight on Monday, September 23. The
clearance of the mall started the next day.
“At end of the Day 1 (September 21), it became apparent that there
were no hostages in the building save for persons who were hiding in
fear of being killed. However, there were several callers most of them
fake, who kept the multi-agency committee busy with unverifiable
presence of various ‘hostages’ in various floors,” the report says.
At the time, even on September 23, ole Lenku was reported as saying there were at least 30 hostages held within the mall.
The report denies reports that there was any confrontation between
KDF soldiers and GSU Recce squad officers who started the operation to
clear the terrorists from the mall.
“Transition between the KDF and the General Service Unit (GSU) Recce
team when the KDF troops arrived was smooth and therefore by the time
the GSU team vacated the building at about 5 pm the agencies operated
professionally and had managed to subdue the terrorists,” the report
reveals.
Gen Karangi informed Defence Secretary Omamo, the Army Commander
Lieutenant General Joseph Kasaon and senior KDF officer about the terror
attack at 2 pm, 90 minutes after it started.
Karangi instructed Kaason to mobilise troops to Westgate. First to be
deployed were 20 Para Battalion who had been at Langata preparing for
Mashujaa day and who arrived at 4 pm.
The Kenya army also deployed four armored personnel carriers and two
planes while the air force and the police each sent a helicopter.
The ad hoc multi-agency security committee comprising the police,
KDF, NIS, emergency and rescue agencies, and Nairobi county government
was supposed to collect the contact details and screen all rescued
persons, and guard and interrogate the wounded in hospitals.
The Special Forces commandos and Ranger Special Force arrived at 5.20
pm and were ordered to clear the first floor of the shopping mall. One
policeman involved in the operation was shot.
They rescued between 20 and 30 people hiding in the Airtel shop. They
found five bodies on the first floor and 12 more bodies in the Nakumatt
cold room. Seven people who were rescued said that the terrorists had
moved to the storage room.
The report says the first reported instance of looting happened on
the fourth day of the siege when a fireman identified as Wanjiru Wilson
Kabira P/No. 68435 was intercepted by soldiers as he tried to loot
mobile phones, cameras and chargers. He was ordered to return them to
where he had picked them .
The KDF has denied its personnel were involved in the looting despite
CCTV footage showing the soldiers walking into the supermarket, rifling
in drawers and cash registers before walking out with plastic bags
containing unknown items. Subsequently, the military explained the bags
contained bottled water which the soldiers had been instructed to take
from the supermarket shelves.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-149554/kdf-makes-westgate-report#sthash.dJCwvl6p.dpuf
THE four terrorists involved in the Westgate mall attack refused to negotiate before they were killed, according to the final report of the Kenya Defence Forces.
By the end of the four-day operation in September, five soldiers and
policemen had died. Four charred bodies, suspected to be those of the
terrorists, were recovered at the mall.
Four AK47 rifles, eighteen AK47 magazines, twenty eight pamphlets on hostage taking, three empty metal ammunition boxes, two four-way communication equipment, two machetes and a huge amount of 5.56mm ammunition were recovered.
According to the KDF confidential report, the terrorists rebuffed attempts to negotiate by members of the task force comprising the Interior secretary Joseph Ole Lenku, Defence secretary
Raychelle Omamo, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, Chief of
Defense Forces Gen Julius Karangi, National Intelligence Security
director general Michael Gichangi, CID boss Ndegwa Muhoro, Nairobi
governor Evans Kidero, his deputy and a Kenya Red Cross representative.
The 21-page report entitled Conduct of Operation by KDF reveals that
the army used heavy weapons after the terrorists rebuffed efforts to
negotiate.
Instead, on the second day of the siege, they shot several members of
the Ranger Strike Force and the Special Force who had been deployed at
the mall.
The terrorists lobbed two grenades at soldiers from 20 paramilitary
unit and 75 artillery battalion injuring two soldiers in the legs as
they were retrieving the bodies of eight people on the first floor of the mall. The soldiers also rescued a woman hidden in the boot of her vehicle KAD 264D in the basement parking.
The report says that the KDF then decided to use heavy caliber
weapons including 84mm anti tank ammunition, Pulemyot Kalashnikov
Machinegun (PKM) and rocket propelled grenades to flush out the
terrorists as the special forces were sequentially clearing the third
and fourth floors.
The report says the terrorists lit fire on the first floor of Nakumatt supermarket to block the soldiers as they advanced.
The fire caused a blackout that slowed down the operation until a generator was brought to the site.
On the third day, 40 members of the elite Ranger Strike Force and 30
Special Forces members launched an early morning assault. Two soldiers
were shot dead and a third one was shot in the hand as he tried to
retrieve the bodies of his fallen colleagues.
The attackers then started yet another fire to slow down the
operation. Two attempted to escape from the rear of the building but
were forced back by soldiers who had placed an outer security cordon
around the building. One was shot and injured but managed to re-enter
the building where they are believed to have died.
"Following the intensity of the fire, the second floor car park caved in,” the report says.
The report, to be presented soon to President Uhuru Kenyatta, says
the terrorists were defeated by midnight on Monday, September 23. The
clearance of the mall started the next day.
“At end of the Day 1 (September 21), it became apparent that there
were no hostages in the building save for persons who were hiding in
fear of being killed. However, there were several callers most of them
fake, who kept the multi-agency committee busy with unverifiable
presence of various ‘hostages’ in various floors,” the report says.
At the time, even on September 23, ole Lenku was reported as saying there were at least 30 hostages held within the mall.
The report denies reports that there was any confrontation between
KDF soldiers and GSU Recce squad officers who started the operation to
clear the terrorists from the mall.
“Transition between the KDF and the General Service Unit (GSU) Recce
team when the KDF troops arrived was smooth and therefore by the time
the GSU team vacated the building at about 5 pm the agencies operated
professionally and had managed to subdue the terrorists,” the report
reveals.
Gen Karangi informed Defence Secretary Omamo, the Army Commander
Lieutenant General Joseph Kasaon and senior KDF officer about the terror
attack at 2 pm, 90 minutes after it started.
Karangi instructed Kaason to mobilise troops to Westgate. First to be
deployed were 20 Para Battalion who had been at Langata preparing for
Mashujaa day and who arrived at 4 pm.
The Kenya army also deployed four armored personnel carriers and two
planes while the air force and the police each sent a helicopter.
The ad hoc multi-agency security committee comprising the police,
KDF, NIS, emergency and rescue agencies, and Nairobi county government
was supposed to collect the contact details and screen all rescued
persons, and guard and interrogate the wounded in hospitals.
The Special Forces commandos and Ranger Special Force arrived at 5.20
pm and were ordered to clear the first floor of the shopping mall. One
policeman involved in the operation was shot.
They rescued between 20 and 30 people hiding in the Airtel shop. They
found five bodies on the first floor and 12 more bodies in the Nakumatt
cold room. Seven people who were rescued said that the terrorists had
moved to the storage room.
The report says the first reported instance of looting happened on
the fourth day of the siege when a fireman identified as Wanjiru Wilson
Kabira P/No. 68435 was intercepted by soldiers as he tried to loot
mobile phones, cameras and chargers. He was ordered to return them to
where he had picked them .
The KDF has denied its personnel were involved in the looting despite
CCTV footage showing the soldiers walking into the supermarket, rifling
in drawers and cash registers before walking out with plastic bags
containing unknown items. Subsequently, the military explained the bags
contained bottled water which the soldiers had been instructed to take
from the supermarket shelves.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-149554/kdf-makes-westgate-report#sthash.dJCwvl6p.dpuf
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