Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Hostages were escorted to safety while armed police hunt the gunmen in Westgate shopping center Saturday. Al-Shabab now claims that many more hostages have been killed.
FBI agents pored over the rubble inside Nairobi’s crushed Westgate Mall Wednesday, trying to fingerprint bodies and collect DNA as the grim work of pinpointing the nationalities of civilians and gunmen who perished in the shopping center got underway.
U.S. officials confirmed agents were on the ground lending technical assistance and aiding Kenya’s investigation into the four-day terrorist attack that began Saturday inside the upscale Westgate Mall.
The death count remained at 72 — 61 civilians, six Kenyan soldiers and five suspected Islamic terrorists.
That was expected to rise, however, as the Red Cross said another 71 civilians were still missing.
Al-Shabab, the Somali-based Islamic extremist group claiming responsibility for the deadly attack, tweeted messages saying Kenyan soldiers had blown up part of the building and buried 137 hostages in debris.
But government officials denied Al-Shabab’s allegations, saying its forces were clearing the mall room by room without finding anyone.
The recovery work was proceeding carefully because of suspicions the militants buried booby traps in the wreckage.
Kenyan government spokesman Manoah Esipisu told the Associated Press the collapse of floors in the mall was caused by a fire set by the terrorists, who occupied the shopping center for four terror-filled days.
At one point during the siege Kenyan soldiers fired rocket grenades into the mall, knocking out a pillar and causing a partial roof collapse, a security official told AP. It was done to distract an Al-Shabab sniper so hostages could be evacuated, the official said.
Al-Shabab, in a series of tweets with AP, confirmed survivor reports that Muslims were separated from other shoppers and set free. Others were gunned down or held hostage.
Foreigners were a “legitimate target,” Al-Shabab tweeted.
Amid heightened security at major shopping centers worldwide, the U.S. State Department Wednesday issued a global travel alert to warn Americans of potential terror attacks aimed at them by Al-Qaeda or affiliated groups.
Two U.S. officials told AP that mounting intelligence suggests Islamic terrorist groups may be planning a new series of attacks against Western targets.
Meanwhile, speculation grew that Britain’s notorious “White Widow” participated in the Westgate killings.
A terrified store clerk told police a woman looking like Samantha Lewthwaite opened fire on her with an AK-47.
A “pale-skinned woman” with long, dark hair looked the clerk in the eye before opening up with the assault weapon, several media outlets reported.
Kenyan officials said they couldn’t confirm widespread reports that a British woman and two or possibly three American males took part in the terrorist attack.
With News Wire Services
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