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NAIROBI. – Several bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of Kenya’s Westgate Mall following a brutal attack by Islamist gunmen, police said yesterday, as searches continued for clues and more victims. As many as nine bodies have been retrieved from the charred rubble of the mall, some badly damaged in the intense fire that gutted part of the complex.
“Some of the bodies are not recognisable and need DNA testing to get them properly identified, some are badly damaged,” a senior police source said.
It was not immediately clear if the bodies recovered have already been included in the official toll of 67 – including 61 civilians and six Kenyan troops – or if they could be among the 39 people listed as missing by the Red Cross.
Somalia’s al-Qaeda linked Shabaab claimed responsibility for last week’s attack on the shopping mall.
Part of the rooftop parking of the mall collapsed after heavy explosions and a fierce fire, leaving the key area where the insurgents are understood to have made their final stand – along with possible hostages – buried under tonnes of concrete slabs and rubble.
In addition, Kenyan officials have said five attackers were killed, but it is not clear if all – or any – of those bodies have been recovered.
Families of those missing have been called to the central mortuary to provide DNA samples to help identify unclaimed bodies, officials said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta announced on Tuesday that an inquiry would be set up to investigate the handling of the Westgate mall attack as the public sought to know what exactly happened during the four day siege.
The commission of inquiry will investigate “where there were lapses” and “how they can be avoided in future”, the President said as questions mounted about the handling of the worst terrorist attack since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi.
He spoke during national inter-religious prayers at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre for victims of the September 21 terrorist attack in which more than 60 people were killed.
Meanwhile, Canada announced on Tuesday funding to bolster African Union forces in Somalia. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird pledged Can$5m for enhancing counter-terrorism efforts through the African Union mission in Somalia, as well as Can$1m for other security and conflict resolution programmes in the Horn of Africa.
The funds are in addition to Can$37m already committed by Ottawa for Somalia, and US$2,4bn committed by the world.
At a joint press conference, Somalia’s visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Fawzia Yusuf Adam said her government in partnership with the African Union “is defeating” Shabaab.
“Al-Shabaab is on its last legs, they lost numbers, they lost morale, they lost ground, they’re only in small pockets. We’re not worried about them. We’re in control of the situation, but we need a last push” with aid from the international community to strengthen its security forces, she said.
“We need to stand on our feet and defend our shores and defend our ground and finish al-Shabaab.”
The four-day bloodbath at the upmarket Westgate Shopping Mall, which Kenyan forces brought to an end last Tuesday, left at least 67 people dead. The Kenyan Red Cross said on Monday that 39 more were still missing. – AFP/StandardDigital.
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