WASHINGTON — An upscale Nairobi, Kenya mall was attacked by a terrorist cell from the Somalian terrorist and Islamist group al-Shabab. Dozens of civilians were killed as crowds fled the mall by any manner possible. Breitbart News’ Mary Chastain has done excellent reporting of the situation via Twitter, refuting rumors and highlighting facts about the crisis after a bevy of rumors flooded the mainstream media’s initial reports.
Various reports said the initial death count was in the high 30’s, but authorities increased the preliminary count to about 68. A wife of a U.S. State Department official was among the dead, whose nationalities ranged from British nationals to Americans to Kenyans.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was a direct response of the Kenyan government’s involvement in Somalia, where the terrorist group was pushed back from large swaths of territory and put a strain on the group’s finances and inner cohesiveness. Twitter suspended their account as a result.
Israeli special forces were flown in to respond to the situation, where hostages were holed up for at least a day in certain spots of the mall. Kenyan police and security forces rescued and secured as many hostages as they could and retrieved bodies if possible.
Unfortunately, several reporters kept reporting the names of the security personnel involved as well as current developments, as the terrorist cell had been using social media to keep track of security team movements in the mall. But, until the situation is resolved, nothing can be confirmed by news outlets as far as the identities of the terrorists, how the situation unfolded and the safety of both the hostages and security personnel.
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