Shabaab claims Nairobi attack retaliation for Trump Jerusalem move
By : AFP
Date:
16 January 2019 8:28pm WAT
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Members of Kenyan Security forces clear the entrance of the scene after the situation was taken under control after the terrorist attack at a hotel complex in Nairobi's Westlands suburb on January 16, 2019, in Kenya Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on January 16, 2019 that all Islamists who had stormed an upmarket hotel complex had been "eliminated" after an almost 20-hour siege that left several dead. "I can now confirm that... the security operation at Dusit is over and all terrorists have been eliminated," Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation. He said several people had been killed and 700 civilians rescued from the building, but did not clarify if people were still hiding in the complex. The attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Somali group Al-Shabaab, which has repeatedly targeted Kenya since it sent its army into Somalia in October 2011 to fight the jihadist group. Luis TATO / AFP
Members of Kenyan Security forces clear the entrance of the scene after the situation was taken under control after the terrorist attack at a hotel complex in Nairobi's Westlands suburb on January 16, 2019, in Kenya Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on January 16, 2019 that all Islamists who had stormed an upmarket hotel complex had been "eliminated" after an almost 20-hour siege that left several dead. "I can now confirm that... the security operation at Dusit is over and all terrorists have been eliminated," Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation. He said several people had been killed and 700 civilians rescued from the building, but did not clarify if people were still hiding in the complex. The attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Somali group Al-Shabaab, which has repeatedly targeted Kenya since it sent its army into Somalia in October 2011 to fight the jihadist group. Luis TATO / AFP
Members of Kenyan Security forces clear the entrance of the scene after the situation was taken under control after the terrorist attack at a hotel complex in Nairobi’s Westlands suburb on January 16, 2019, in Kenya Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on January 16, 2019 that all Islamists who had stormed an upmarket hotel complex had been “eliminated” after an almost 20-hour siege that left several dead. “I can now confirm that… the security operation at Dusit is over and all terrorists have been eliminated,” Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation. He said several people had been killed and 700 civilians rescued from the building, but did not clarify if people were still hiding in the complex. The attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Somali group Al-Shabaab, which has repeatedly targeted Kenya since it sent its army into Somalia in October 2011 to fight the jihadist group. Luis TATO / AFP
The Al-Shabaab jihadist group said Wednesday it carried out the deadly attack on a Nairobi hotel and office complex in retaliation for US President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the SITE monitoring group said.
The group said in a statement picked up by SITE that its fighters stormed the DusitD2 complex on instructions by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
“It is a response to the witless remarks of the US president, Donald Trump, and his declaration of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of Israel.”
The assault with guns and explosives claimed the lives of 14 people as it unfolded Tuesday in the complex, which includes a 101-room hotel, spa, restaurant and offices.
