Nairobi: Fifty people believed to have been in a Nairobi hotel complex when it was attacked by militants remained unaccounted for on Wednesday, the Kenya Red Cross said, hours after the country's president said the deadly siege was over.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said Kenya's security forces had killed the Islamic extremist gunmen whose assault on a luxury hotel and shopping complex took 14 "innocent lives".

"All the terrorists have been eliminated," President Uhuru Kenyatta said in announcing an end to the overnight operation to secure the complex in the capital, Nairobi.

In a televised address, Kenyatta did not say how many attackers were involved. He said more than 700 people were evacuated during the security operation and urged Kenyans to "go back to work without fear," saying the East African country is safe.</s>NAIROBI, Kenya — Dozens of people remain missing one day after a deadly attack on a popular hotel complex in Nairobi, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society.

Tuesday’s attack started with car bombs before armed men invaded the DusitD2 hotel complex, which includes bars, restaurants, offices and banks.

A total of 94 people were reported missing in the immediate hours following the attack, the Red Cross Society said in a statement Wednesday. Although 44 cases were closed, the humanitarian organization said there are still 50 people who are unaccounted for.

Earlier in the day, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed authorities would “pursue relentlessly” those involved in the funding, planning and execution of the attack.

In a televised address, Kenyatta said that “multiple security efforts are underway to detect, deter, disrupt and defeat any terrorist operative or group.” He added that all four militants who stormed the site had been killed by security forces.

“We’re grieving as a country and my heart and that of every Kenyan goes out to the innocent victims,” Kenyatta said. “We are also a nation that never forgets those who hurt our children.”

Sporadic gunfire could be heard from the scene in the morning after scores of people were rescued at daybreak as police continued what they called a mopping-up exercise.

Kenyatta said 14 civilians were confirmed dead. An earlier estimate had put the death toll at 15. He added that more than 700 people have been safely evacuated by rescue teams.

The Red Cross reported that at least 30 people were treated for injuries in hospitals and other health facilities.

Al-Shabab — the Somalia-based Islamic extremist group that is allied to al Qaeda — claimed responsibility for the carnage in a statement. However, that claim had not been verified by authorities.

The State Department confirmed to NBC News that a U.S. citizen was among the dead.

Officials did not release his identity, but his mother, Sarah Spindler, confirmed to NBC News that American victim was her son, Jason Spindler. She said the 40-year-old had been “trying to make positive change in the Third World in emerging markets.”

Kenyan police officers prepare enter the complex in Nairobi on Tuesday.Dai Kurokawa / EPA

“We all miss him so much. And it’s so sad that such a bright young person is taken away by terrorism,” Sarah Spindler added.

Spindler joined the Peace Corps after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and was a graduate of NYU Law and the University of Texas at Austin, and he was the recipient of grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation, his mother said.

The U.K.’s Foreign Office confirmed Wednesday that a British-South African national was also among the dead.

A 2013 attack carried out by Al-Shabab at the nearby Westgate Mall in Nairobi that killed 67 people.

Like the attack at the Westgate Mall, this one appeared aimed at wealthy Kenyans and foreigners.

Al-Shabab has vowed retribution against Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to fight it since 2011.

The group has killed hundreds of people in Kenya. In the deadliest attack, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an assault on Kenya’s Garissa University in 2015 that killed 147 people, mostly students.</s>NAIROBI (Reuters) - A least one person was killed and four injured in an attack on Tuesday at an upscale hotel and office complex in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, a hospital official said.

The five patients were brought to M. P. Shah Hospital and one of them died, said Toseef Din, the facility’s chief operating officer. The Red Cross said four hospitals had received casualties.</s>NAIROBI, Kenya—Somali extremist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a deadly attack and siege at an upscale hotel and office complex here popular with tourists, business travelers and local elites.

Workers hid under their desks or ran for their lives as attackers detonated at least one suicide bomb and shot their way into the Riverside 14 complex in the capital on Tuesday afternoon.</s>At least five people killed in a terrorist attack on a luxury hotel and office complex in Nairobi, Kenya.</s>Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta told the nation Wednesday that the suspected al-Shabab terrorist attack on a Nairobi hotel complex was over. But the Kenyan Red Cross said dozens of people remained missing. Some families spent hours looking for loved ones, only to find their worst fears confirmed. Mohammed Yusuf has more from Nairobi.</s>NAIROBI (Reuters) - Fifty people believed to have been in a Nairobi hotel complex when it was attacked by militants remained unaccounted for as of 3 p.m. (1200 GMT) Wednesday, the Kenya Red Cross said, hours after the country’s president said the deadly siege was over.

At least 14 people were killed and more than 700 evacuated from the dusitD2 complex, President Uhuru Kenyatta said.</s>The death toll from an extremist attack on a luxury hotel and shopping complex in Nairobi has climbed to 21, plus the five militants killed, police in Kenya have said.

Two people accused of facilitating the attack by al-Shabab gunmen were arrested.

The number of those killed at the DusitD2 complex rose with the discovery of six more bodies at the scene and the death of a wounded police officer, said Joseph Boinnet, inspector-general of Kenyan police.

Twenty-eight people were hurt and taken to the hospital, he said.

In a televised address to the nation earlier in the day, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that the all-night operation by security forces to retake the complex was over and that all of the extremists had been killed.

“We will seek out every person that was involved in the funding, planning and execution of this heinous act,” he vowed.

In an attack that demonstrated al-Shabab’s continued ability to strike Kenya’s capital despite setbacks on the battlefield, extremists stormed the place with guns and explosives.

Security camera footage released to local media showed a suicide bomber blowing himself up in a grassy area in the complex, the flash visible along with smoke billowing from the spot where he had been standing.

Of the civilian victims, 16 were Kenyan, one was British, one was American and three were of African descent but their nationalities were not yet identified, police said.

Al-Shabab, which is based in neighbouring Somalia and allied with al-Qaida, claimed responsibility.

The Islamic extremist group also carried out the 2013 attack at Nairobi’s nearby Westgate Mall that killed 67 people, and an assault on Kenya’s Garissa University in 2015 that claimed 147 lives, mostly students.

While US airstrikes and African Union forces in Somalia have degraded the group’s ability to operate, it is still capable of carrying out spectacular acts of violence in retaliation for the Kenyan military’s campaign against it.

The bloodshed in Kenya’s capital appeared designed to inflict maximum damage to the country’s image of stability and its tourism industry, an important source of revenue.

The government said late on Tuesday that buildings were secure.

However, gunfire continued into Wednesday morning, and dozens of trapped people were rescued overnight.

Several loud booms were heard Wednesday as teams sought to clear the complex of booby traps and other explosives.

Mr Kenyatta’s announcement that the security operation was complete came about 20 hours after the first reports of the attack.

The Kenyan Red Cross said about 50 people were unaccounted for.

But many of those were believed not to have been in the complex during the attack.

Ken Njoroge, chief executive of a company in the DustiD2 complex that offers mobile banking services, said he was unable to locate several employees.

“It’s very difficult for the families because the passage of time only makes the problem bigger,” he said.

International development charity Gatsby Africa said the organisation was “shocked and saddened” following the death of its Africa programmes director Luke Potter, a Briton.

The American killed in the attack was identified as Jason Spindler, co-founder and managing director of San Francisco-based I-DEV International.

Mr Spindler’s father, Joseph, said his son worked with international companies to form business partnerships in Kenya that would boost local economies.

The Houston-raised Mr Spindler had a brush with tragedy on 9/11: He was employed by a financial firm at the World Trade Centre at the time of the 2001 terrorist attack but was running late that morning and was emerging from the subway when the first tower fell, according to his mother.

He became covered in dust and debris as he tried to help others, Sarah Spindler told KTRK-TV in Houston.

In the Nairobi attack, a man who gave only his first name, Davis, described how he had escaped with colleagues by fleeing down a fire escape.

“It’s a traumatic experience. It shakes you,” he said.

Still, Davis said he was impressed by the “inner strength” and compassion of people who helped each other in the midst of danger.

His own thoughts, he said, were: “Get people out and get out yourself. That’s it.”</s>This post was originally published on this site

WORLD NEWS American killed in 'suspected terror attack' at high-end complex in Nairobi: Officials https://linewsradio.com/american-killed-in-suspected-terror-attack-at-high-end-complex-in-nairobi-officials/ http://abcnewsradioonline.com/world-news/

MarkRubens/iStock(NEW YORK) — An American was killed when gunfire and explosions erupted at a high-end hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday afternoon, according to the U.S. Department of State.

A State official described the attack at the upscale DusitD2 hotel as a “senseless act of violence,” and condemned the assault. The American embassy in Nairobi is closely monitoring the attack, and State officials have offered assistance to local authorities, the State official told ABC News.

“All Mission personnel are safe and accounted for,” a spokesperson for the State Department said.

Kenyan authorities said that all buildings have been secured and that the “situation is under control.” Local authorities are calling the situation a “suspected terror attack.”

“The security teams have evacuated scores of Kenyans and other nationalities from the buildings. We are now in the final stages of mopping up the area and securing evidence and documenting the consequences of these unfortunate events,” Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Interior Fred Matiang’i said during a press conference Tuesday evening. “I can also report that the country is now secure, that the nation remains calm, that Kenyans and all of our visitors are safe and should feel free to continue getting about their normal businesses.”

“The situation is under control, and the country is safe,” Matiang’i added. “Terrorism will never defeat us.”

Kenya’s Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet said in a press statement that the “suspected terror attack” began around 3 p.m. local time when a “group of armed assailants” stormed a gated complex in Nairobi’s affluent Westlands neighborhood. The upscale hotel, which is popular among foreigners, is located within the mixed-use compound.

An explosion targeted three vehicles in the parking lot and a suicide bomber detonated inside the hotel foyer, where a number of gifts suffered severe injuries, according to Boinnet.

Video from the scene showed the cars ablaze and wounded people being carried away.

Kenya’s National Police Service deployed officers to the scene to engage the attackers who were holed up inside the hotel. Meanwhile, the area has been cordoned off as residents are screened and evacuated, according to Boinnet.

Boinnet said Kenyan forces were going floor by floor and building by building to secure the complex.

“Specialist forces are now currently flushing them out. However, we regret to inform that there have been injuries in the attack,” the police inspector general told reporters in a statement.

The number of people who have been injured is unknown at this time.

“We urge the public to remain calm and to cooperate with all security forces and to provide any information that they may deem as useful,” Boinnet added.</s>Nairobi: Fifty people believed to have been in a Nairobi hotel complex when it was attacked by militants remained unaccounted for on Wednesday, the Kenya Red Cross said, hours after the country's president said the deadly siege was over.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said Kenya's security forces had killed the Islamic extremist gunmen whose assault on a luxury hotel and shopping complex took 14 "innocent lives".

"All the terrorists have been eliminated," President Uhuru Kenyatta said in announcing an end to the overnight operation to secure the complex in the capital, Nairobi.

In a televised address, Kenyatta did not say how many attackers were involved. He said more than 700 people were evacuated during the security operation and urged Kenyans to "go back to work without fear," saying the East African country is safe.
Dozens of people remain missing one day after a deadly attack on a popular hotel complex in Nairobi, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society.