Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has said that Islamists who stormed an upmarket hotel complex, killing 14 people, have been “eliminated” after an almost 20-hour siege in which hundreds of civilians were rescued.
At least one suicide bomber blew himself up and gunmen engaged security forces in numerous shootouts during the assault on the DusitD2 compound, which includes a 101-room hotel, spa, restaurant and office buildings.
The attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Somali group Al-Shabaab, which has repeatedly targeted Kenya since it sent its army into Somalia in October 2011 to fight the jihadist group.
The sight of armed Islamists and terrified civilians fleeing reminded Kenyans of a 2013 Shabaab attack on the Westgate mall left 67 dead in a siege that stretched out over four days and led to sharp criticism of the security response.
In a televised address today, Kenyatta said some 700 civilians had been evacuated throughout the attack.
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