Kenya hotel siege leaves 14 dead

Reunited A woman reacts as she is reunited with family after being evacuated from the DusitD2 compound in Nairobi after a blast followed by a gun battle rocked the upmarket hotel complex on 15 January 2019. AFP

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Wednesday that all Islamists who had stormed an upmarket hotel complex had been “eliminated” after an almost 20-hour siege that left 14 dead.

“I can now confirm that… the security operation at Dusit is over and all terrorists have been eliminated,” Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation.

He said 14 people had been killed and 700 civilians rescued from the building, but did not clarify if people were still hiding in the complex.

Security forces worked throughout the night to secure the DusitD2 compound, which includes a 101-room hotel, spa, restaurant and office buildings, after an attack claimed by Al-Shabaab Islamists on Tuesday afternoon.

At least one suicide bomber blew himself up at the hotel while gunmen sprayed fire before engaging security forces and holing themselves up at the premises as civilians fled or barricaded themselves in their offices awaiting rescue.

“We have 14 people dead as of now and that includes foreigners,” a police source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Among the dead was an American citizen, a State Department official said.