House team told Kenya Defence Forces yet to find bodies of five Westgate
Mall attackers Updated Tuesday, October 1st 2013 at 00:12 GMT +3
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inSh
*By GEOFFREY MOSOKU and CYRUS OMBATI*
The mystery of Westgate terror attack deepened Monday as it emerged that
State has not retrieved five bodies of attackers who were killed last week.
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Monday revealed to MPs that they suspected
the gunmen had retreated to one corner, where they died and their bodies
are covered by rubble.
“There is stench from the area covered by rubble and the military has
informed us that they suspect the five bodies of the terrorists are stuck
there,†Rongo MP Dalmas Otieno said.
Otieno said after touring the ill-fated mall, KDF had told them they were
moving with speed to clear the rubble and recover the bodies, which will
help forensic experts who were still combing the area to gather crucial
evidence.
The revelation raises more questions over the progress of investigation to
unearth the perpetrators of the terror attack that led to the death of 67
people.
On Sunday, Interior Security Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku reiterated the
government’s position that five terrorists had been felled by gunfire but
refused to divulge any information on whether the State was in possession
of the bodies.
Special forces from KDF, Interpol and forensic experts from the US, UK,
Germany and Israel and local investigators were still at the mall as the
probe intensified.
 And Monday, a joint Parliamentary Committee of Defence and National
Security began a probe into the Westgate attack, with claims and counter
accusations between government agencies over the manner in which the
operation was handled.
*Intelligence lapses*
The MPs say they will inquire into all questions that have been raised,
from intelligence lapses and the operation that lasted for four days.
MPs will further seek to establish if the speedy deployment of the military
derailed the operation, after a senior GSU officer who was commanding the
elite Recce squad was fatally shot by what is said to be a ‘friendly
fire’ by the military, at a time when police had taken control of 70 per
cent of the mall and pushed the terrorists to one corner.
Defence Committee Chairman Nung’u Githinji and his National Security
counterpart Asman Kamama said they will summon all top security chiefs
involved in the operation and any member of the public who may have useful
information.
The parliamentary committee has also extended its mandate to investigate
massive looting in the mall in the aftermath of the attack after the public
and police were ordered out.
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