Gunmen storm Nairobi hotel complex

Gunmen have blasted their way into an upscale hotel and office complex in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in an attack claimed by the Somalia-based al-Shabab armed group.

Kenyan police chief Joseph Boinnet said on Tuesday that the attack began with an explosion targeting cars followed by a detonation from a suicide bomber.

“We can now confirm that this criminal activity commenced at about 3 [12:00 GMT] in a coordinated fashion,” Boinnet said in a televised statement, adding that it “began at I&M Bank with an explosion that targeted three vehicles in the parking lot”.

The attack on the Dusit hotel complex – which also houses offices and banks – sent people fleeing for their lives. More than three hours after the attack began, small groups of workers were still being taken out by officers escorting them to armoured vehicles.

The UN has condemned “the horrible terrorist act” [Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images]

“The main door of the hotel was blown open and there was a human arm in the street severed from the shoulder,” said Serge Medic, the Swiss owner of a security company who ran to the scene to help when he heard of the attack from his taxi driver.

“It is terrible. What I have seen is terrible. I have seen a human as I ran out and there is what looks like minced meat all over,” said a man who ran from the scene. He did not elaborate further.

No casualty figures have been released by officials, but witnesses reported seeing several bodies.

Interior Minister Fred Matiang’i said all parts of the hotel complex affected by the attack have been secured adding that security forces were in the final stages of mopping up the scene.

“I would like to reiterate that the situation is under control and the country is safe,” Matiang’i said.

Al-Shabab claims responsibility

The al-Shabab group, which has been fighting the western-backed government in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it was in control of most parts of the building complex.

“Our fighters killed 47 enemies inside the complex. The mujahideen are still in control of most parts of the building complex,” the group’s military operations spokesperson, Abdiaziz Abu Mus’ab, told Al Jazeera.

Interior Minister Fred Matiang’i said all parts of the hotel complex affected by the attack have been secured [Baz Ratner/Reuters]

Authorities did not comment on the number of the attackers, though Kenya’s Citizen TV aired what it said was surveillance footage that showed at least four gunmen.

Kenyan television featured appeals for blood from local hospitals and showed police cordoning off the route to ensure vehicles could move quickly. Red Cross ambulances ferried victims away.

A firefighter stands near burnt vehicles at the scene [Njeri Mwangi/Reuters]

The attack came a day after a trial began in the 2013 Westgate mall attack case. At least 67 people were in killed in that attack, which was also carried out by al-Shabab.

Kenyan prosecutors say suspects in the Westgate case currently on trial committed a terrorist act and used false documents. The men deny all charges.

The African Union chief, Moussa Faki, condemned the attack and commended Kenyan security forces for their “swift response”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also denounced “the horrible terrorist act”.

A spate of attacks

The East African country faced a spate of attacks after it sent its army into Somalia in 2011 to fight the al-Qaeda-linked group.

Kenyan troops, concentrated in south Somalia, originally went into Somalia to try to create a buffer zone along the border. They are now part of an African Union peacekeeping force.

Tuesday’s attack came exactly three years after al-Shabab overran a Kenyan army base in Somalia, killing dozens of soldiers.

On April 2, 2015, in one of the most gruesome attacks on Kenyan soil, the armed group killed 148 people, most of them students, at a university in Garissa, eastern Kenya.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies