Joseph Ole Lenku, Kenya’s interior minister, has upset Kenyans by not revealing many details about the Westgate mall attack on Sunday, as investigations both inside and outside the government seek to find out what actually happened.
Lenku, speaking in a televised press conference, said that “We don’t discuss intelligence matters in public.”
Kenyans have become increasingly frustrated over the government’s unwillingness to share information about the attack. Almost no details have been released about what happened after the first hours of the siege.
Lenku also said that the mall was completely secured and that there was no way that any of the terrorists escaped through an underground tunnel, without addressing the concerns that some of the attackers escaped by pretending to be hostages.
Kenya has arrested 12 people since the attack but three have been freed, Lenku said. He declined to say if any of those arrested had been in the mall during the attack.
The main questions about the attack include the identities of the five attackers who were killed, whether the government had any intelligence about the attack before the attack, how the rooftop parking lot collapsed, and what sparked the fire that burned for more than 24 hours during the four-day siege.
Several of the suspects in the attack have been revealed. A man named Ali Gitonga is being held, suspected of being one of the attackers, though his wife claims he’s innocent. Police also arrested a British national and found maps of the mall on his laptop.
Lenku did reveal several details, such as that investigators have identified a car used by the gunmen, from the Somalia-based Islamist group al-Shabab, and found in it “an assortment of illegal weapons.”
72 people died during the siege, according to the government. The Kenyan Red Cross says 59 people remain missing, though the government puts that number at zero.
About the government’s unwillingness to share information, Lenku said that “We ask you to bear with us.”
The police have so far recorded statements from 156 witnesses concerning the attack, reported Capital FM.
Lenku also said that police have arrested three people suspected of looting.
More on the Westgate attack:
Robert Alai, Kenyan Blogger, Earns Praise for Coverage of Terror Attack at Westgate Mall
Pictures of Faith Wambua, ‘Brave Mother’ Hiding With Two Children in Westgate Mall, Inspire Kenyans
Sharif Ahmed Abdirizak, Arrested as He Tried to Flee Kenya, Had Map of Westgate Mall on Laptop
What Caused Westgate Mall Collapse? May Have Been RPGs Fired by Kenyan Troops
Natalie Faye Webb: ‘White Widow’ Had South African Alias, Was a Quiet IT Specialist
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
