President Barack Obama will end his Kenya trip with a televised address at Nairobi’s Kasarani stadium.
On July 25, President Barack Obama discussed security issues with his Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Later on Sunday, Barack Obama will fly on to Ethiopia.
The Kasarani stadium, where Barack Obama will make his speech, was last year used as a controversial detention camp for hundreds of Somalis during an operation against the Islamist group al-Shabab.
Barack Obama is expected to warn that such tactics risk alienating communities and stoking radicalism.
On July 25, Barack Obama acknowledged the role the Kenyan government had played in the fight against militant groups such as al-Shabab.
Al-Shabab has carried out a deadly campaign in Kenya including the 2013 attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre and an attack in April in Garissa that killed nearly 150 people.
Security has been tight for Barack Obama’s two-day visit to Kenya.
The trip, which began on July 24, is his first visit as president to the land where his father was born.
In Ethiopia, Barack Obama will be the first US president to visit the country. He will also become the first US leader to address the 54-member African Union (AU) on July 28.
AU Commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma described Barack Obama’s trip to Ethiopia as a “historic visit” that would “broaden and deepen the relationship between the AU and the US”.
On July 25, Barack Obama praised Africa’s economic and business potential in a speech at a business summit.
He also visited a memorial for those killed in the 1998 US embassy bombing in Nairobi.
After holding bilateral talks, Barack Obama and Uhuru Kenyatta said they were “united against terrorism”.
However, the two leaders differed sharply in their positions on gay rights.
While Barack Obama spoke strongly against discrimination, Uhuru Kenyatta said Kenya did not share the same values.
Nairobi shopping center’s security camera footage shows what appear to be Kenyan security forces looting goods during last month’s siege of the Westgate mall.
In the footage, some soldiers can be seen carrying white shopping bags, while others appear to take white boxes from a mobile phone store.
At least 67 people died when suspected al-Shabab militants stormed the Nairobi shopping centre on September 21.
The Kenyan military says it is investigating the looting allegations.
News agencies say the CCTV footage is taken inside the entrance to the Westgate mall’s Nakumatt supermarket, which sells everything from food to televisions.
In one section of footage, several soldiers are seen walking out of the supermarket, past a blood-spattered floor, carrying plastic carrier bags.
In another clip, Kenyan soldiers can be seen next to a mobile phone outlet.
Nairobi shopping center’s security camera footage shows what appear to be Kenyan security forces looting goods during last month’s siege of the Westgate mall
One reaches over the counter, and apparently removes a white item.
Then more soldiers remove white items, which the Reuters news agency describes as mobile phone boxes.
The Westgate attack sparked a four-day siege in which large parts of the shopping centre were destroyed.
The Kenyan military says it has launched an investigation into the looting allegations, which correspondents say will have angered many Kenyans.
At the weekend, Kenya’s biggest-selling newspaper, The Nation, ran an article entitled Shame of soldiers looting Westgate.
The footage of the alleged looting emerged as the Kenyan authorities announced they had recovered the body of what they consider to be a fourth attacker.
“Today, Sunday 20 October 2013, we recovered a fourth body, which we know from CCTV footage to be that of a terrorist,” said the Kenyan interior minister, Joseph Ole Lenku.
“DNA and other investigations will confirm their identities. We have also recovered four AK47 assault rifles which we know were used by the terrorists in the assault. We also recovered 11 magazines of AK47 assault rifles.”
Officials had initially said 10 to 15 gunmen were involved, but CCTV footage appears to show only four militants.
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow has been identified as the Norwegian suspect in Kenya’s Westgate shopping centre attack, the BBC revealed.
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, 23, is a Norwegian citizen of Somali origin and he is suspected of helping to plan and carry out the attack.
At least 67 people died in the attack in Nairobi, which the al-Qaeda linked group al-Shabab says it carried out.
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow has been identified as the Norwegian suspect in Kenya’s Westgate shopping centre attack
Last week Norway’s intelligence agency, the PST, said it had sent officers to Kenya to verify reports that a Norwegian citizen had been involved in the assault on the shopping centre, which began on Saturday September 21 and lasted four days.
It is unclear how many militants were involved. Police had initially estimated that there were 10-15 attackers inside the complex, but the CCTV footage which has so far been released by the Kenyan authorities shows just four men.
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow is believed to be one of those four.
Forensic investigators are still combing through the rubble of Westgate – no bodies have yet been identified and it is not known whether the attackers are alive or dead.
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow was born in Somalia, but he and his family moved to Norway as refugees in 1999.
Norway’s intelligence agency PST is investigating whether a Norwegian citizen was involved in the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate mall.
The PST said it had sent investigators to Kenya to try to verify the claim.
It said it was opening an inquiry “based on information that a Norwegian citizen may have been involved”.
A Norwegian of Somali origin may have been involved in planning and carrying out the September 21 attack in which at least 67 people died, the PST said.
“The enquiry will primarily be aimed at helping prevent new terrorist acts and [determining] to what degree the Norwegian… was involved in the attack,” the agency said.
Norway’s intelligence agency PST is investigating whether a Norwegian citizen was involved in the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate mall
The PST added that it would also try to establish if the unnamed suspect had ties to Somalia’s al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda-linked militant group which said it had carried out the attack.
It said it was working to assess any potential threats to Norway and Norwegian interests.
Reports have suggested that an al-Shabab leader targeted at the weekend in a US military operation may have spent time in Norway.
The October 5 raid failed to capture Abdukadir Mohamed Abdukadir, alias Ikrima. He is thought to be a Kenyan citizen of Somali origin, one of many Kenyan Somalis and other foreign fighters who have joined the group.
Norway’s TV2 reported earlier this week that Ikrima had travelled to Norway and applied for asylum in 2004 but left in 2008 before there was a decision on his application.
Norwegian officials have not commented on the claims.
Last week Kenya’s military identified four men it said were involved in the Westgate siege. It said Abu Baara al-Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khattab al-Kene and Umayr were killed during the standoff.
Abu Baara al-Sudani was said to have been an “experienced fighter” from Sudan, who led the group. Nabhan was a Kenyan of Arab origin and Kene a Somali linked to al-Shabab. Details about Umayr were not available.
Kenya military named four men believed to have been involved in the deadly shopping centre attack in Nairobi last month.
Al-Shabab militants Abu Baara al-Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khattab al-Kene and Umayr – shown in new CCTV footage – were killed during the standoff.
Kenya said previously 10-15 militants had been involved, but the police chief says the figure may now be four to six.
The al-Shabab group said it carried out the attack on the Westgate mall on September 21, leaving at least 67 dead.
The al-Qaeda-linked group said the attack was in retaliation for Kenya’s military involvement in Somalia.
The naming of the men came as CCTV footage was aired showing four attackers calmly walking through a room in the mall holding machine guns.
Kenya Defense Forces spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir told Reuters news agency: “I confirm these were the terrorists; they all died in the raid.”
The naming of the Nairobi mall attack suspects came as CCTV footage was aired showing four attackers calmly walking through a room in the mall holding machine guns
Reuters quoted Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir as saying that al-Sudani was an “experienced fighter” from Sudan and was believed to be the leader of the group.
Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir said Omar Nabhan was a Kenyan of Arab origin and Khattab al-Kene a Somali linked to al-Shabab. Further details about Umayr had not yet been verified, he said.
Kenyan police chief David Kimaiyo told KTN television station it was now believed that four to six gunmen had carried out the attack, not 10 to 15.
“None of them managed to escape from the building after the attack,” he said.
David Kimaiyo also said that wanted British woman Samantha Lewthwaite had not been involved.
“We have also established that she was not part of the attackers in the building. There was no woman,” he said.
Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, is the widow of Jermaine Lindsay, one of the four suicide bombers who attacked London on July 7, 2005.
Kenya had earlier said five attackers were killed in the security operation and that nine people were in custody.
The latest CCTV footage is from a limited part of the complex and, with some eyewitnesses reporting a two-pronged attack, it is too early to say definitively how many gunmen were in the building.
In addition to the 67 people killed in the attack, a further 39 are still missing, according to the Kenyan Red Cross.
Al-Shabab is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK and is believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters.
Its members are fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia.
Kenyan security officials are to be questioned by MPs about alleged intelligence failings over the Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre attack.
The head of the parliament’s defense committee says “people need to know the exact lapses in the security system”.
There are reports the National Intelligence Service (NIS) issued warnings a year ago.
Some 67 people were killed and many injured after al-Shabab militants stormed the Westgate centre in the capital Nairobi on September 21.
Five militants were killed by the security forces during the four-day siege and 10 people have since been arrested, the authorities say.
Al-Shabab, a Somali Islamist group, said the attack was in retaliation for Kenya’s military involvement in Somalia.
Kenyan security officials are to be questioned by MPs about alleged intelligence failings over the Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre attack
According to a BBC report, the militants hired a shop in Nairobi mall in the weeks leading up to the siege.
Security officials – including the head of the (NIS), Michael Gichangi – are set to appear before the parliamentary defense committee later on Monday.
Kenyan newspapers have reported that the NIS warned a year ago of the presence of suspected al-Shabab militants in the capital and that they were planning suicide attacks, including on the Westgate shopping centre.
Briefings were given to the ministers “informing them of increasing threat of terrorism and of plans to launch simultaneous attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa around September 13 and 20, 2013”, Kenya’s Daily Nation had quoted counter-terrorism reports as saying.
A dossier from the NIS – amounting to more than 8,000 pages according to Kenya’s Standard newspaper – also suggests the Israelis issued warnings that buildings owned by its citizens could be attacked between 4 and 28 September.
Westgate is partly Israeli-owned.
The Daily Nation has reported that Kenyan intelligence had established that al-Shabab leaders had begun singling out Westgate and the Holy Family Basilica for attack early this year.
Government figures said to have received the intelligence briefings include Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku, Treasury Minister Julius Rotich, Foreign Affairs Minister Amina Mohammed, Defence Minister Raychelle Omamo and Kenya Defence Forces chief Julius Karangi.
Kenyan Special Forces were today locked in a fight to the death with Islamic terrorists who have been barricaded inside Nairobi’s Westgate Shopping Centre with up to 40 hostages since Saturday.
Witnesses described hearing four large explosions at the Westgate Shopping Centre followed by the sight of thick plumes of smoke and the sounds of fierce gunfire after the military tried to break the three day siege by gaining access from the roof.
It is feared that some of the gunmen, who are from al-Qaeda affiliated group al- Shabaab, may have blown themselves up, though a Kenyan government minister said that militants had set fire to some mattresses in a supermarket as a decoy.
Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said that three of the terrorists have now been killed and that most hostages were now free.
“We think the operation will come to an end soon,” he said.
“We are in control of all the floors, the terrorists are running and hiding in some stores… there is no room for escape.”
Witnesses described hearing four large explosions at the Westgate Shopping Centre followed by the sight of thick plumes of smoke
The Red Cross has put the death toll at 62 and says 63 are still missing. At least 175 were injured, including children.
The Kenyan interior ministry said “almost all” the hostages have been evacuated from the mall hours after it was rocked by a series of blasts.
In a Twitter message it added “some individuals” have been arrested at Nairobi airport.
In a series of updates, it said 16 Kenyan soldiers had been injured, adding that the focus of the operation is now clearing the building.
Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said security forces now have control over all four storeys of the shopping mall and are confident there is no escape route for the surviving terrorists.
He said: “We are doing anything reasonably possible, cautiously though, to bring this process to an end.
“The terrorists could be running and hiding in some stores, but all floors now are under our control.”
As Kenyan soldiers and more armored personnel carriers descended on the mall, a spokesman for terror group al-Shabaab Ali Mohamud Rage said in a statement posted on an Islamist website that those held inside will “bear the brunt of any force” used by soldiers against the militants.
The statement read: “We authorize the mujahedeen inside the building to take actions against the prisoners as much as they are pressed.
“We are telling Christians advancing onto the mujahedeen to have mercy for their prisoners who will bear the brunt of any force directed against the mujahedeen.”
Meanwhile, a Twitter account claiming to represent al-Shabaab yesterday claimed that terrorists from seven nations are involved in the attack, including the U.S., Britain and Canada.
The HSM Press Office account, which has been suspended twice, claimed the group were Ahmed Nasir Shirdoon, 24, from London, UK; Gen Mustafe Noorduiin, 27, from Kansas City, U.S., Abdifatah Osman Keenadiid, 24, from Minneapolis, U.S., and Ahmed Mohamad Isse, 22, from Saint Paul, U.S; Ismael Guled, 23, from Finland; Abdirizak Mouled, 24, from Ontario, Canada; and Zaki Jama Caraale, 20, and Sayid Nuh, 25, both from Somalia.
At least 22 people are reported to be dead and more than 50 injured as a gun battle continues between police and armed men at Westgate shopping centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Dozens of shoppers fled; many are still feared trapped inside.
A senior police officer originally said it was an attempted robbery but later called it a possible terrorist attack.
The Somali militant group al-Shabab had threatened to strike the centre.
It is opposed to Kenya sending troops to fight in Somalia. No group has said it carried out Saturday’s attack.
Officers have now surrounded the building in an attempt to evacuate remaining shoppers. A military helicopter has landed nearby.
Police told AFP news agency that gunmen had taken at least seven people hostage. Eyewitnesses have also said there are hostages, but there is no official confirmation.
Dozens of people are reported to have been injured.
Eyewitnesses say masked attackers threw grenades into the building at about midday local time.
Nairobi police chief Benson Kibue initially said the gunmen had been trying to rob a shop, but later called it “a terrorist attack”.
At least 22 people are reported to be dead and more than 50 injured as a gun battle continues between police and armed men at Westgate shopping centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi
At about 18:30, more than six hours after the attack began, the Kenyan Secretary for the Interior Joseph ole Lenku said the security situation was “under control”.
He urged the public “not to speculate” about the nature of the attack, and said most people had been evacuated.
There are reports one of the gunmen has been shot dead.
Some of the attackers were reportedly dressed in hijabs, and it is unclear whether they were men or women, our correspondent says.
One man who escaped had been hiding in a supermarket but told our correspondent his friends were still trapped inside the building.
Witnesses told news agencies the gunmen ordered Muslims to leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted.
The Kenyan authorities have asked media outlets to stop broadcasting from the scene, as the information may be aiding the attackers.
Security guards used shopping trolleys to wheel out several wounded children and at least one man, AP reports.
“The gunmen tried to fire at my head but missed. There are definitely many casualties,” Sudjar Singh, who works at the shopping centre, told AFP.
“I saw three of the attackers dressed in black and with covered faces and they were carrying heavy rifles,” said another witness.
AFP quoted witnesses as saying the gunmen were speaking Arabic or Somali and executed shoppers.
Armed police took cover behind vehicles outside.
“We have officers at the scene trying to get out the group shooting inside,” a police official told AFP news agency.
“Officers are approaching the situation with caution because there are innocent civilians inside,” he said.
The Westgate centre is often frequented by wealthy Kenyans and expatriates.
Police have urged residents to stay away from the area and told media outlets to stop live transmissions from the scene.
One child has been killed and three seriously hurt in a grenade attack on a church’s Sunday school in the Kenya capital, Nairobi.
The attacker targeted St Polycarp’s church on Juja Road.
A police spokesman blamed sympathizers of Somalia’s al-Shabab Islamist militant group, angry over Kenya’s role in the UN-backed intervention force.
A mob later rounded on Somalis living near the church with sticks and stones in a suspected revenge attack.
Police chief Moses Nyakwama said 13 people had been injured in the revenge attack, in the suburb of Eastleigh.
Reports suggested a number of those hurt at the church were injured in a stampede after the attack.
A police spokesman, Charles Owino, told Reuters news agency: “We suspect this blast might have been carried out by sympathizers of al-Shabab.
“These are the kicks of a dying horse since, of late, Kenyan police have arrested several suspects in connection with grenades.”
The authorities said three children were seriously hurt in the attack, and a number of others suffered lighter injuries.
The Red Cross had earlier said six children were critically wounded.
Irene Wambui, who was in the church at the time of the attack, said: “We were just worshipping God in church when suddenly we heard an explosion and people started running for their lives.
“We came to realize that the explosion had injured some kids who were taken to hospital and unfortunately one succumbed.”
Senior Nairobi police officer Moses Ombati appealed for calm after youths reportedly attacked the nearby Alamin mosque.
Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa have suffered a series of grenade attacks since Kenya sent troops into Somalia last October.
The attacks in Mombasa escalated after radical Islamist preacher Aboud Rogo Mohammed was killed in a drive-by shooting in August.
In July, 15 people were killed in raids on churches in Garissa, near Kenya’s border with Somalia.
There was speculation that al-Shabab or its sympathizers were responsible.
Researchers have discovered that fossils from Northern Kenya show that a new species of human lived two million years ago.
The discovery suggests that at least three distinct species of humans co-existed in Africa.
The research adds to a growing body of evidence that runs counter to the popular perception that there was a linear evolution from monkey to ape to modern human.
The research has been published in the journal Nature.
Anthropologists have discovered three human fossils that are between 1.78 and 1.95 million years old. The specimens are of a face and two jawbones with teeth.
Researchers have discovered that fossils from Northern Kenya show that a new species of human lived two million years ago
The finds back the view that a skull found in 1972 ago is of a separate species of human, known as Homo rudolfensis. The skull was markedly different to any others from that time. It had a relatively large brain and long flat face.
But for 40 years the skull was the only example of the creature and so it was impossible to say for sure whether the individual was an unusual specimen or a member of a new species.
With the discovery of the three new fossils researchers can say with more certainty that H.rudolfensis really was a separate type of human that existed around two million years ago alongside other species of humans.
For a long time the oldest known human ancestor was thought to be a primitive species, dating back 1.8 million years ago called Homo erectus. They had small heads, prominent brows and stood upright.
But 50 years ago, researchers discovered an even older and more primitive species of human called Homo habilis that may have coexisted with H. erectus. Now it seems H. rudolfensis was around too and raises the distinct possibility that many other species of human also existed at the time.
This find is the latest in a growing body of evidence that challenges the view that our species evolved from monkeys in a smooth linear progression. Instead, according to Dr. Meave Leakey of the Turkana Basin Institute in Nairobi, who led the research the find shows that there was a diversity early on in the evolution of our species.
“Our past was a diverse past, our species was evolving in the same way that other species of animals evolved. There was nothing unique about us until we began to make sophisticated stone tools,” she said.
According to Dr. Meave Leakey, the growing body of evidence to suggest that humans evolved in the same way as other animals shows that “evolution really does work”.
“It leads to amazing adaptions and amazing species and we are one of them,” she said.
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