NAIROBI, KENYA – Terror in Kenya. Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked militant group based in Somalia, is claiming responsibility for a deadly and cowardly act.
Officials say 10 gunmen stormed into an upscale shopping mall in the nation’s capital of Nairobi, leaving a trail of death in their wake. Reports say around 39 people are dead and another 150 are injured. One of the suspects was killed, while another is in the hospital.
Police have pinned down the attackers in an on-going siege, but hostages (which could be as many as 36) still remaining. What’s more, the group says it won’t negotiate. Get this: the militant group tweeted that all Muslims inside the mall were escorted out by the mujahedeen before the violence began.
One American tourist who had just pulled up to the mall recounts the ordeal: “We began crawling behind cars and underneath cars, and our driver who is Kenyan suggested to us, or yelled to us to run,” said Sarah Head. Sarah eventually finds refuge in a stairwell with others for an hour and a half. She was one of the lucky ones.
While a motive for the attack hasn’t been released, some speculate that this is Somalia retaliation for the Kenyan army being on their soil.
Now the world watches and waits.
