Survivors are talking about the horrific ordeal they encountered at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Al-Shabaab jihadists brutally slaughtered 62 people and wounded hundreds more on Saturday. They told the innocent civilians, which included many children and women, they only wanted to murder non-Muslims.
Witnesses said the terrorists lined up men, women, and children and quizzed them over Islam. If a person could not name the prophet’s mother the gunmen murdered them with an AK-47. Others were forced to recite a prayer.
Hannah Chisholm described the scene for the Daily Mail:
She said: ‘We kept running to different places but the shots were getting louder so we barricaded ourselves along with about 60 others into a large storeroom.
‘There were children hiding with us as well as someone who had been shot. At that point we thought the gunmen were thieves so we assumed they wouldn’t try to reach the storeroom.
Greg Aldous witnessed an execution:
Greg Aldous, from New Zealand, told how he hid in a box and watched a man being gunned down 30ft away from him. He said the terrorists ‘were coming in through the front, they were coming in through the back and we were just sitting ducks’.
He added: ‘These are Islamic fundamentalist nutcases. They just shot and killed anybody. They are horrible.’
He eventually escaped under the cover of darkness to a lorry-loading depot where people were panicking and screaming
‘My instinct was to hide and I jumped into a large box containing supermarket cartons and hid there,’ he said. ‘I only survived the massacre because I kept out of sight.
Radio presenter Saadia Ahmed also saw many executions, including the elderly:
‘If they had found me… I’m white, so I’m dead. They’re not even going to think twice. They hate your skin colour.’ Radio presenter Saadia Ahmed was one of the 1,000 who managed to flee. She said: ‘I witnessed a few people get up and say something in Arabic and the gunmen let them go.
‘A colleague of mine said he was Muslim and recited something in Arabic and they let him go as well.’
But she added: ‘I saw a lot of children and elderly people being shot dead. I don’t understand why you would shoot a five-year-old child.
‘They were firing at random at anyone who tried to escape.’
Al-Shabaab is an al-Qaeda linked group based in Somalia. Tensions are high between the terrorists and Kenya because Kenyan troops are assisting the Somali government against the group. The group has made it known this attack is in retaliation for Kenya’s activities in Somalia and they will not negotiate with the Kenyan government.
As of Monday morning, the Kenyan police are still fighting the terrorists. 62 civilians are confirmed dead, but over 1,000 people have been rescued between Saturday and Monday. Three terrorists are dead and the Kenyan forces are in total control of the mall.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.