Monday, September 23, 2013
British Prime Minister David Cameron has cancelled an overseas trip to go and chair an emergency security meeting over Kenya’s terrorist attack.
Through his Twitter account, Cameron said that he was heading back home to chair a Cabinet Office Briefing Room meeting following the heinous attack.
“I’m cutting short a visit to Balmoral to return to Downing St to chair COBRA late this afternoon, dealing with the Kenya terror attacks,” he posted on Twitter.
World leaders have been milling behind Kenya to offer their support since the horrific attack at the Westgate shopping mall on Saturday.
Among those who have condoled with Kenya are United States President Barrack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, as well as the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.The African Union, the United Nations and the United Nations Security
Council have also condemned the attack and offered support.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the deadly siege
had highlighted the gravity of the threat posed by Somali militants.
“It represents the seriousness and the breadth of the challenge we
face with ruthless and completely reckless terrorists,” Kerry told
reporters as he started a meeting in New York with Egypt’s Foreign
Minister Nabil Fahmy.
“It’s an enormous offense against everybody’s sense of right and wrong.”
Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab fighters have claimed responsibility for the
attack on the Nairobi mall in which at least 68 people have been killed
and about 200 wounded.
Among the deceased are British, Canadian, Chinese, Dutch, French,
Ghanaian, Indian, Kenyan, Peruvian, South Koreans and South African
nationals.
According to media reports, three Britons had been confirmed dead in
addition to two Canadians among them a diplomat, one Chinese woman, two
French nationals – a woman and her daughter and one Ghanaian.
Two Indians, a Dutch national, a Peruvian doctor, one South African and a South Korean are also among the dead.
It is not clear how many Kenyans perished when the terrorists attacked the plush mall.
“The situation is very fragile; the area remains a security zone the
security agents and support services have done a good job. We believe
there are some innocent people in the building that is why the operation
is delicate,” said Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku on
Sunday.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Ministry of Interior and
Coordination of National Government have described the situation as
delicate even as Israeli security elites joined in the rescue operation.
The Interior Ministry has been tweeting and asking Kenyans not to
spread any alarming information due to the nature of the attack.
“Do you know what happens when you speculate? You kill the Kenyan
spirit, you give our attackers joy. We’re handling a delicate
situation,” tweeted the ministry under its @InteriorKE handle.