Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Wolves at Westgate: A stunning special report on Nairobi mall attack from KTN TV in Kenya



This special hour-long report that aired over the weekend makes a compelling case that the four terrorists who carried out the attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi a month ago may well have escaped that same night, and the so-called "siege" of the following days was, first, the result of conflicts between the Kenyan police and military -- including a shootout -- and then cover for looting by Kenyan troops. All this is corroborated circumstantially but persuasively by analysis of the surveillance videos.

The footage shows the way scores of bystanders were evacuated through a store room at the Nakumatt supermarket. Then, hours later, it shows the four killers calmly drinking water, chatting and saying prayers. One exits through the same door. Then one tilts the surveillance camera toward the ceiling. And that's the last that's seen of them.

The terrorists themselves are identified in this report citing "security sources." But the IDs conflict with other recent reports, including those focusing on a Norwegian of Somali descent named Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow. The KTN documentary names the man seen in the videos wearing a  black shirt or jacket, the presumed leader of the operation, as a supposed Sudanese national called Abu Bara al-Sudani.  Another killer is named as Omar Naban, a Somali national. The third is said to be Kataab al Qeni, an "Al-Qaeda trained Somali national." And finally, Omer al-Mogadish, a United States citizen of Somali descent. (Spellings are phonetic, based on the video. Al-Sudani and Al-Mogadish both sound like noms de guerre.)

CCTV from a branch of Barclay's Bank in Nairobi, taken earlier in September, shows a man identified as Abdikadir Haret Mohamed, who withdrew money to buy a car for the terrorists and purchased telephone SIM cards that they used, and which they left in the car when they went into the mall. One of Abdikadir's phones was linked to a woman named Suleika Hussein, who was arrested on her way to Mombasa after the attack. But there is no sign that any woman was involved in the actual assault.

2 comments:

Rob said...

Where has the The Inside Story: Wolves at Westgate story gone ? I watched it last week but now every link I try access turns out to be a dead link.....

Please provide a link to view.

Thanks

Christopher Dickey said...

I am afraid the link I had here was the only one available to me, and it's been taken down. If you find a new link, please let me know.