The Times
Jerome Starkey and Tristan McConnell, in Nairobi
When the first shots tore through a Nairobi mall last Saturday, sending shoppers fleeing for their lives, dozens of people trapped inside reached instinctively for their mobile phones — but they didn’t call 999. Calls to Nairobi’s emergency number go unanswered.
Meera Shah, who’d been at the first-floor coffee shop with her husband and two daughters, called a private security company. Her husband, Kuli, called the ORC, a local neighbourhood watch scheme whose volunteers were among the first responders on the scene.
Up to 18 heavily armed gunmen had entered the Westgate shopping centre from at least three different entrances, lobbing grenades and shooting people at close range. Amanda Belcher, who was hiding under a car where her husband, Simon, had been shot, sent text messages to a friend: “Help we’re hostages at Westgate — Si shot.” She didn’t ask for the police. “We need security,” she wrote. “Many shot — the men are still here.”
Even policemen didn’t call the police. Noorudin Haji, a counter-terrorism officer, hid in a toilet and called his brother Abdul, who raced five miles across town and eventually fought his way into the building with a handgun.
It was the beginning of a chaotic, four-day operation to retake the mall. At least 67 people were killed — including three policemen and three soldiers — in Kenya’s worst terrorist attack for a generation. Security sources familiar with the operation to retake the mall said it would have been daunting for even the best-trained soldiers in the world. Survivors said they were humbled by the bravery of have-a-go heroes such as Mr Haji, who fought floor-to-floor for more than four hours, freeing countless hostages in the early stages of the siege.
However, the operation mounted by Kenyan forces was beset by startling failures. The Times has learned:
- It took hours for special forces to arrive at the scene and deep institutional rivalries between the army and the police almost saw their ground commanders come to blows on Monday.
- A friendly fire incident in which an army unit shot a policeman sapped momentum from an early effort to retake the mall.
- There were basic failures in the chain of command and a lack of basic technical know-how A local SAS unit was put on standby but never called in to help.
“A lot of advice was offered even at the highest level, but it was ignored,” said a security source. “When they went in, it wasn’t in hostage rescue mode.” Kenyan officials briefed by the army about the operation have said there was a deliberate decision to “bring the roof down” in a final, desperate bid to draw the battle to a close. (Read more…)
