'All the Terrorists Have Been Eliminated'

Kenya's president says 14 people were killed in attack on luxury hotel
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 16, 2019 12:11 AM CST
Kenya President Says 14 Killed in Hotel Attack
In this grab taken from security camera footage released to the local media, an armed attacker walks in the compound of a hotel, in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019.   (Security Camera Footage via AP)

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says 14 people were killed in Tuesday's attack on a hotel complex in the capital and the operation to neutralize the attackers is now over. Kenyatta did not say Wednesday how many attackers were involved. He urged Kenyans to "go back to work without fear," saying the East African country is safe for citizens and visitors. Al-Shabab—a Somalia-based Islamic extremist group allied to al-Qaeda—claimed responsibility for the carnage at the Dusit D2 hotel complex, which includes bars, restaurants, offices, and banks in Nairobi's well-to-do Westlands neighborhood.

"All the terrorists have been eliminated," said Kenyatta per the AP. The BBC reports that the Kenyan Red Cross puts the death toll higher, at 24. Kenyan police said early Wednesday there was still an active security operation ongoing after they announced overnight that all buildings in the hotel complex had been secured, the AP reports. Sporadic gunfire still rang out through the morning. Scores of people were rescued at daybreak as police continued what they called a mopping-up exercise. The attack started with multiple suicide car bombs which breached the security gates of the complex and was followed by an invasion of at least four armed men. (More Kenya stories.)

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