Video shows gaping crater at Kenya's shattered mall, as witnesses say terrorists slit victims' throats.(DM).
Shocking new video today revealed the true extent of the destruction caused to the Nairobi shopping centre during the four-day battle between Kenyan forces and Islamic militants.Aerial footage shows a gaping hole in the mall's roof after three storeys collapsed when Kenyan soldiers fired rocket-propelled grenades inside the complex, knocking out a support column, a government official said.
The collapse happened on Monday when government troops launched a massive assault on the mall where up to 150 people are thought to have been killed.
During the firefight, hostages reportedly had their throats slashed from ear to ear and were thrown screaming from third-floor balconies as the siege came to a bloody end.
Shell-shocked Kenyan troops said the inside of the Israeli-run mall resembled a ‘scene from a horror movie’ with blood spattered everywhere and dead bodies strewn across the floor.
Between 10 and 15 terrorists are thought to have stormed the mall on Saturday, according to Kenyan officials. The police said five insurgents were killed in the battle and at least 10 taken into custody.
When Kenyan troops launched their assault to retake the mall, they didn't just face bullets from AK-47 rifles. They found themselves up against an arsenal of booby-trap explosives, heavy-calibre machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and tens of thousands of live rounds.
Much of this would very unlikely have been carried into the complex by the Al Shabaab militia, say security sources. They say they were much more likely to have been smuggled in beforehand.
This adds weight to claims that the group hired a women’s clothes shop in the mall beforehand to stash their weapons.
It is also thought English-speaking foreign fighters were carefully selected and plans of the huge Westgate mall studied down to the ventilation ducts.
This raises questions about how intelligence agencies failed to pick up on such an elaborately planned attack. A British defence source told the Independent: 'This was hardly a spontaneous event, the way these guys were deployed... the fact they could replenish their ammunition shows a lot of pre-planning.'
Interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku said forensic experts from the US, Israel, Britain, Germany and Canada were taking part in trying to reconstruct the scene at the mall. He said results would not be ready for a week.
Mortuaries in Nairobi have been prepared for the last two days for a large influx of bodies still in the mall. Officials have said the shopping centre, which the terrorists held for four days, could hold dozens more bodies.
The government has confirmed 72 total deaths: 61 civilians, six security forces and five attackers. The Red Cross says 71 people remain missing.
At least 12 Muslims are among the civilians killed, according to The Times.
Al-Shabab said the Kenyan government assault team carried out 'a demolition' of the building, burying 137 hostages in the debris. A government spokesman denied the claim and said Kenyan forces were clearing all rooms, firing as they moved and encountering no one. Read the full story here.