Magaidi walikuwa na duka Westgate

 

 
 

Kuna taarifa kwamba, magaidi walioua watu wengi kwa risasi na mabomu katika jengo la Westgate jijini Nairobi walikuwa na duka kwenye jengo hilo na walilitumia kuhifadhi silaha 'nzito' walizozitumia kutekeleza lengo lao.

Kwa mujibu wa habari hizo, magaidi hao wanaodaiwa kuwa vijana akiwemo mwanamke, walikuwa wanaishi kwenye nyumba za kupangisha zilizopo jirani na jengo hilo la maduka makubwa.

Soma hapo chini

 

After their initial spree of killings a group of the Islamists who had stormed Westgate dived into the multi-storey Nakumatt supermarket.

 Security forces pursuing them began to come under steady fire: six of them were shot dead before, outgunned, they pulled out.


The stream of bullets had not come from just Kalashnikov AK-47 rifles the fighters had been carrying, but heavy calibre machine-gun.

 Later, there were booby-trapped bombs; some police officers also reported the 'whoosh and boom' of grenades being aimed towards them striking walls.

It is highly unlikely that the bulky versions of GPMGs (General Purpose Machine-Guns) IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) launchers could have been carried into the shopping mall by the terrorists who had initially gained entry pretending to be tourists even if some of them were, as the authorities claimed, men enveloped in niqabs.

It is almost certain that these had been secreted beforehand, say security sources. 

It is also likely that quite extensive reconnaissance had been carried out beforehand and that the attackers had detailed knowledge of the vast complex including floor plans.

One line of inquiry being pursued by the Kenyan police is that they rented retail premises for their arms, which could also have given them access to the paperwork.

The assault in Nairobi which has left at least 72 dead and 200 injured and missing was an operation plotted in detail and well in advance by al-Shabaab, according to Western officials with knowledge of what is being pieced together.

A key element was the gathering of foreign based jihadists with knowledge of English who are likely to have carried out the early research into the shopping centre, blending in among the expatriates and middle-class Kenyan customers.

Independent