Why it has taken long to ‘declare victory’

Armed officers inside Westgate. Photo/FILE 

In Summary

• The attackers, said a KDF source, found their way into the Control Room of the building, meaning they were initially at a strategic position to see where the security forces were coming from.
• The attackers collected mattresses from Nakumatt stores which are on second floor, set them on fire before fleeing to the fourth floor which houses a casino.
• There was still another problem though: Whether the attackers had all been finished, and whether Westgate was free of explosives.

By AGGREY MUTAMBO
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The meticulous planning by terrorists provided a ‘new’ challenge to security forces trying to free hostages from theWestgate Mall.

Even Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed, in an interview with an American TV Channel admitted that the terrorists had been ‘professional.’

“It (the attack) was very professional, it was very well coordinated. It is clearer, I think, to the government now that al-Shabaab has been working for quite some time with others in other parts of the world to increase their outreach,” she told Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in an interview.

When the Special Forces launched the ‘final assault’ on Monday afternoon, they met a team of assailants who appeared to have ‘planned’ for it for some time.

The final assault by Kenyan Security agents to end the siege at Westgate began sometime after noon on Monday. There was gunfire, twenty or so explosions, huge dark smoke, then a press conference.

It was the start of the long hours of the Monday evening as soldiers strived to free hostages. But sources within the Kenya Defence Forces said they now understand the weaponry by the attackers had been brought in longtime before, and the building’s map gathered.

The attackers, said a KDF source, found their way into the Control Room of the building, meaning they were initially at a strategic position to see where the security forces were coming from.

“In that position, they could see their targets; the targets could not see them. It gave the attackers an advantage,” the source said.

They could watch CCTV footage from the Room, transmitted from cameras around the building. Although the security forces could access the CCTV footage via a remote centre situated further from Westgate building, the attackers had an advantage because they destroyed parts of the footage.

The assailants are said to have moved in ventilation tubes, control room and one of the shops on the building. Security forces believe the shop tenant had rented the space not just to sell electronics but to spy the building and help bring in early weaponry.

“The process is taking a little longer because we want to make sure that our people, both the security agents and the hostages in the building are safely protected (sic),” Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku told reporters shortly before the assault started.

The attackers also planned to choke the Forces with burning mattresses so they could limit expenditure of ammunition. The attackers collected mattresses from Nakumatt stores which are on second floor, set them on fire before fleeing to the fourth floor which houses a casino.

They hid in the ventilation tubes of the building, armed with what our source said were General Purpose Machine Guns.

Here was a situation where the attackers had set fire on mattresses, according to Mr Lenku, yet firemen had to put out this fire to avoid setting the entire building on fire.

To guarantee the safety of firemen, KDF soldiers employed a tactic of periodic fire to confuse the attackers away from the fire point as firemen put out the fire. It took four hours.

For a start, fire trucks were ordered out of the premises to ‘create space.’ Security agents were trying to counter the employ of the attackers by surveying the building from above and surrounding the building on the ground.

The problem was to locate the exact point the attackers were hiding. The Special Forces decided to target parts they thought the assailants were seeking refuge. A number of soldiers were already within the building, secured several parts but it was still not a sure case on whether the terrorists had explosives on them, or whether they were in fact planting mines on the building.

The first two had been cornered earlier in the day but detonated explosives tied on their bodies. They died. Another one was cornered in the ventilation tubes. This one was wearing clothes of a woman though it was a man.

Mr Lenku had earlier discredited reports that there could be women among the attackers. He said a number of the terrorists had only worn female clothes. It is not known why they chose to.

By around 8pm in the evening, the remaining lot, had been cornered and ‘neutralised’, in the words of the police. No hostages were found alive on day four. There was still another problem though: Whether the attackers had all been finished, and whether Westgate was free of explosives. Security agents dealt the better part of yesterday dealing with this. But all we heard were explosions and occasional gunshots.

President Kenyatta said the attack had realised 61 deaths plus six soldiers and five terrorists. Many of their bodies were still in the rubble of the collapsed building.