AL-SHABAB MILITANTS TARGET
NON-MUSLIMS?
Al-Shabab, the Somalia-based
militant group that stormed the
mall Saturday, said it had a
"meticulous vetting process" so
that Muslims would not be targeted
in the attack. Witnesses saw
gunmen freeing people in
conservative Islamic dress and they
also quizzed some inside the mall
to see if they were true Muslims.
However, far more witnesses
described scenes of gunmen
spraying blindly into crowds, and
there are many reports of dead and
injured Muslims.
___
DID MUSLIMS INSIDE THE MALL
TRY TO HELP NON-MUSLIMS?
Yes. As word spread through
mobile phone text messages that
the gunmen were asking people
about their knowledge of Islam,
Muslims quickly tutored non-
Muslims. Some, for instance, gave
whispered lessons in how to recite
the Shahada, a short Arabic-
language Islamic creed.
___
WHAT WEAPONS DID THE GUNMEN
CARRY?
Witnesses saw militants carrying
AK-47 and G3 assault rifles, both
common in the region's armies and
easy to obtain on the black market.
The fighters also had grenades.
Some gunmen also wore belts of
heavy-caliber bullets, and witnesses
described hearing the distinctive,
rapid-fire blasts of machine guns
more often found mounted on
military vehicles. Such weapons are
difficult to obtain and exceedingly
powerful, and could explain how
the militants held off Kenyan forces
for four days.
___
WHERE DID PEOPLE HIDE?
Wherever they could. One man
described hiding in a shallow
flower bed near a driveway. Some
hid in crawl spaces or bathrooms.
Some crouched, terrified, in plain
sight. They were killed or injured.
But some were simply overlooked.
___
HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED?
It is still not known. Officially,
there have been 67 counted
fatalities, but there are numerous
reports of dozens still missing,
perhaps more than 100. While
authorities now have full control of
the mall, the top-floor parking lot
collapsed through the two-story
grocery store below it, leaving a
gaping pile of rubble. It is not
clear how many bodies are in the
rubble.
http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/381895/5-things-to-know-about-Day-1-of-Nairobi-mall-siege.html?isap=1&nav=5030 |
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