Somali Militant Group Claims Kenya Mall Attack

(AP) Somali militant group claims Kenya mall attack
By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya
The al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group is claiming responsibility for the deadly attack on a mall in Kenya.

A statement from al-Shabab on its official Twitter feed Saturday says the attacks are retribution for military action by Kenya inside Somalia. The group said it was now shifting the battlefield to Kenya.

The group said its fighters entered Nairobi’s upscale Westgate Mall at around noon and were still inside more than nine hours later. Kenyan military special forces had entered the mall in an effort to end the standoff.

Nairobi’s mortuary superintendent, Sammy Nyongesa Jacob, says at least 23 bodies killed in the attack were brought in. He said Africans, Asians and Caucasians were among the dead.

Al-Shabab claimed its fighters had killed 100 people, but the group’s claims are frequently exaggerated.