Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab rebels have threatened more attacks against Kenya, taking to Twitter to mock the country after Islamist gunmen attacked a Nairobi shopping mall, killing at least 67 people.
"The mesmeric performance by the Westgate Warriors was undoubtedly gripping, but despair not folks, that was just the premiere of Act 1," the group said in one of a string of messages posted on Twitter overnight. The Shabaab has said it was responsible for the assault on Westgate, which saw a group of gunmen walk into the part Israeli-owned mall at midday Saturday and gun down shoppers and staff.
Another Shabaab message said it had been "a great pleasure to have had you completely enthralled for more than 100 hours. What a wonderful audience you've been!". It also boasted that the "Kenyan government is still in disarray", saying it "won't be until several months when it fully comprehends exactly what took place at Westgate".
Shabaab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane said the Nairobi mall carnage was retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia. Kenya invaded southern Somalia to attack Shabaab bases two years ago, and later joined the 17 700-strong African Union force deployed there.
Meanwhile, Islamic extremist group that killed scores of people at a Nairobi mall attacked two Kenyan towns near the Somali border, killing three people. The leader of the Somali group affiliated with al-Qaeda said the attacks will continue until Kenyan troops are withdrawn from Somalia.
The leader of al-Shabaab said in a message that there is no way Kenya can "withstand a war of attrition inside your own country". "Make your choice today and withdraw all your forces," said Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, also known as Godane, in a new statement posted on the internet late on Wednesday.
"Otherwise be prepared for an abundance of blood that will be spilt in your country, economic downfall and displacement." Al-Shabaab attacked Nairobi's upscale Westgate mall on Saturday and held it for four days in a siege in which at least 67 people were killed. Forensic experts from around the world, including the US, Britain and Germany, continued their work on Thursday reconstructing events in the crime scene including by carrying out fingerprint, DNA and ballistic analysis.
Early on Thursday, al-Shabaab fighters attacked the border town of Mandera, killing two police officers, injuring three others and destroying 11 vehicles, said regional police chief Charlton Mureithi. On Wednesday night, al-Shabaab attacked the border town of Wajir, 390km southwest of Mandera. One person was killed and four wounded after a gunman opened fire and threw grenades.
Kenya has suffered many such attacks by al-Shabaab along its 682km border with Somalia but they take on new significance following the Westgate Mall attack. The Kenyan government said the international response is being coordinated by the international police agency Interpol, which sent an incident response team that arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday.
Interpol official Jean-Michel Louboutin said his team includes disaster victim identification and data specialists who will carry out real-time comparisons of evidence collected inside the mall against the France-based agency's database on DNA and fingerprints from its 190 member country network.
"Whether it be through comparison of information against Interpol's global databases, or the issuance of a notice to identify a victim, locate a wanted person, or seek additional information about suspects, we will offer all necessary assistance to help bring those responsible to justice," Louboutin said in a statement. He added that Interpol is also ready to mobilise additional support if needed, including from its counter-terrorism and criminal analysis units Al-Shabaab said the Nairobi mall attack was not only directed at Kenya, but was also "a retribution against the Western states that supported the Kenyan invasion and are spilling the blood of innocent Muslims in order to pave the way for their mineral companies", according to the statement from Godane.
There has been a global response to the mall attack, with forensic experts from several Western countries working Thursday to investigate the mall site, said Kenyan police spokeswoman Gatiria Mboroki. She said she had no details on what the experts had found so far in the bullet-scarred, scorched mall and that their work was expected to take a week
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