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Investigators Probe Nairobi Mall Attack, Kenya Mourns


Kenyan troops and forensic experts are searching for more bodies at Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall, where a four-day siege by militants left more than 65 people dead.

Searchers are wearing face masks to protect themselves from the stench as they examine the wreckage of the partially collapsed mall.

Troops are moving cautiously through the building, looking for booby traps or any militants who may remain in hiding. Forensic experts from Israel, Britain and the United States are helping Kenyan authorities.

The al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group al-Shabab says it was behind the attack at the Westgate mall -- a large, upscale shopping center popular with foreigners, tourists and wealthy Kenyans.

Flags are flying at half staff across Kenya, after President Uhuru Kenyatta declared three days of mourning for the 67 civilians and security officers killed in the attack. At least five militants were also killed.

President Kenyatta called a special meeting Wednesday of his National Security Council to discuss counterterrorism strategy.

Mr. Kenyatta says 11 militants are in custody. He says the attackers were shamed and defeated, calling them "cowards" who will face justice.





"Our head is bloodied but unbowed. The criminals found us unafraid as we shall ever be. We cannot be conquered."



Britain's Foreign Office said Wednesday a British national was arrested in Nairobi following the siege, but provided no details.

Al-Shabab is demanding that Kenyan troops leave Somalia -- a demand Kenya refuses. Kenyan forces entered neighboring Somalia two years ago to help fight al-Shabab, which has been fighting to turn Somalia into a conservative Islamic state.

The dead include nationals from Britain, Canada, China, France, Ghana, India and South Korea. Mr. Kenyatta said an unknown number of bodies remain trapped in the rubble at the mall, where parts of three floors collapsed during the final stages of the siege Tuesday.
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