A Kenyan military spokesperson revealed the names of four of the terrorists that attacked the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Al-Shabaab, a Somali al Qaeda-linked terrorist group, attacked the mall on September 21 and purposely targeted non-Muslims.
The Kenyan military released new video showing the four identified terrorists: Abu Baara al-Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khattab al-Kene, and a man identified only as Umayr.
“I confirm these were the terrorists, they all died in the raid,” Major Emmanuel Chirchir, spokesman for the Kenya Defence Forces, told Reuters.
Al Sudani, from Sudan, was the leader of the group inside the mall and had been trained by al Qaeda.
“He is an experienced fighter and sharpshooter,” Chirchir said.
Nabhan, a Kenyan of Arab origin, was born in Mombasa and traveled to Somalia with his uncle at the age of 16.
Al Kene is said to be Somali from the capital Mogadishu, and is linked to al Shabaab Islamist militants, Chirchir said.
Umayr’s other names, nationality and biography were “not yet identified”, he added.
The Daily Mail reports that Matt Bryden, the former head of the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, said al-Kene and Umayr are part of al-Hijra, which is an al-Shabaab group in Kenya. Nabhan might be a relative of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, one of the most wanted al-Qaeda members in the area.
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