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Nairobi DusitD2 complex attack

Coordinates: 01°16′12″S 36°48′13″E / 1.27000°S 36.80361°E / -1.27000; 36.80361
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2019 Nairobi DusitD2 complex attack
Part of the War in Somalia and Terrorism in Kenya

Two of the attackers, Ali Salim Gichunge (left) and Abdulqani Arab Yusuf (right) are shown on CCTV as they entered the complex
Date15–16 January 2019 (2019-01-16)
Location
Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya
01°16′12″S 36°48′13″E / 1.27000°S 36.80361°E / -1.27000; 36.80361
Result

Crisis ended

  • 22 killed
  • 5 militants killed
  • DusitD2 Complex secured by the 16th January
Belligerents
Al-Shabaab

Kenya Kenya

Supported by:

United States United States
United Kingdom United Kingdom
Australia Australia
Commanders and leaders

Ahmad Umar
Mahad Karate
Mahir Khalid Riziki †
Osman Ahmad Hassan †
Muhammed Adam Nur †
Abdulqani Arab Yusuf

Ali Salim Gichunge †		 Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta
Kenya William Saiya Aswenje
Samson Mwathethe
Joseph Kipchirchir Boinett
United Kingdom Christian Craighead
Units involved
Saleh An-Nabhan Battalion Kenya Kenya Army Infantry
Strength

4 fighters

1 suicide bomber		 Kenya Unknown
Casualties and losses
5 killed Kenya: none
22 civilians killed, 27 wounded
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
200m
220yds
Attack location
OpenStreetMap view of attack location

The 2019 DusitD2 complex attack was a terrorist attack that occurred from 15 to 16 January 2019 in the Westlands area of Nairobi, Kenya, which left 22 civilians and all five terrorists dead.[1][2][3][4]

Background[edit]

The Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab has been opposed to Kenyan involvement in the Somali Civil War.[citation needed] The terrorist group had previously attacked the suburb of Westlands during the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack, which left 67 people dead.[5] In 2015, al-Shabaab terrorists were involved in mass shooting of Garissa University College students leaving 147 dead and many others injured. This incident was the country's worst terrorist attack since the 1998 United States embassy bombings, which left over 200 people dead.

Location[edit]

The attack occurred at the 14 Riverside Drive complex in Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya.[6] This is an upscale hotel and office complex which hosts the DusitD2 Hotel and the Commission on Revenue Allocation.[1][2] Other clients of the complex, amongst others, include: Adam Smith International, Amadeus IT Group, LG Electronics, I & M bank, JHPiego, SAP East Africa and Cellulant Kenya Ltd.[7]

Incident[edit]

The attack began at 14:30 on 15 January 2019, and was concluded a few minutes before 10:00 the following day.[6] Initial reports were of gunfire and two explosions at the hotel.[4] The five attackers[4] arrived in two vehicles. One of the attackers entered the complex and detonated a suicide bomb adjacent to a restaurant.[8] After the blast, the remaining terrorists forced guards to open the gates of 14 Riverside Drive by shooting at them and lobbing grenades, as they made their way into the complex, igniting some vehicles parked in the parking bay.[9][10][11] The Recce company, the anti terrorism division of the Kenya police force, General Service Unit, were sent in to combat the militants.[2][5][10] Members of private security forces and unarmed individuals along with some off duty police officers were first to respond.[citation needed]

A British SAS operator, who was in the country to conduct training, responded to the melee and entered the complex.[12] Known by his nom-de-guerre, Christian Craighead, he wore a shield badge on his tactical vest, a balaclava over his face, while indicating an "Agent" insignia to bystanders.[13][14] He was joined by Dan J. Prastalo, the Slovenian director of the Diplomatic Protective Services Tactical Response Unit (DPS-TRU).[12][15][14] Craighead led the group clearing each floor of the office and car park buildings. They were heard shouting call sign "Eagle Eagle Security Forces" as they tried to call out hostages that were hiding. Both individuals were seen on the mainstream media clips escorting groups of hostages and carrying wounded ones, before running back into the complex while the attackers were shooting down on them.[16][17] Australian High Commission security detail also exchanged fire with the terrorists as they made their way into the complex, injuring one attacker.[9] While it had been thought that the attack had been neutralized after a few hours, gunfire and explosions were again heard early on 16 January.[18] Christian Craighead shot and killed two of the attackers and was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his extreme bravery.[15][19]

President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta initially said that 14 people had been killed;[6][18] later on 16 January it was reported that 21 civilians and five attackers had been killed.[20] A year after the attack, on 15 January 2020, hotel nurse Noel Kidaliza, who was critically injured during the attack, died of her wounds at a hospital, bringing the death toll to 22.[21]

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement that was released during the attack.[4] They claimed that the attack was "a response to US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel".[20][22]

Perpetrators[edit]

Five men are believed to have carried out the massacre. Three of the attackers were Kenyan, while the other two were Somali. Within days of the attack, the Kenyan government had released the names of two of the attackers, while the other three weren't identified until December 2020 following Al-Shabaab's media wing, Al-Kataib, releasing a film showing them in the days prior to the attack. [23]

Ali Salim Gichunge (born 1995), also known as Abu Sakeena, was the operational leader of the attack. he was born in Isiolo to a Muslim Kikuyu family, with his father being a serving KDF soldier.[23] He studied at Hekima Primary from nursery to Standard Six. He sat his Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education exam in 2007 and scored 355 out of 500 possible marks. After graduating secondary school at Thuura Boys High School in 2011, he studied IT and was hired by a local hotel to mange its internet cafe. In early 2016, Gichunge informed his family that he had begun working at a construction site in Mombasa after being invited to do so by a friend, however the friend told the family a month later that he had lost all contact with him. Gichunge then told his family that he had begun studying Islam in Uganda. In 2017, he contacted his family saying that he was in Lamu to leave the country, but said he would return soon, however the family did not hear from him for two years.[24]

Mahir Khalid Riziki, (born 1994), also known as Jibril, was the suicide bomber who blew himself up at the Secret Garden Restaurant on 14 Riverside Drive. He was born and brought up in Majengo area of Mombasa, and was a known extremist with a history of violence. He had been a frequent attender at the Musa Mosque, a place commonly associated for nearly a decade as a key radicalization and recruitment center for Al-Shabaab, where he met Ramadhan Hamisi Kufungwa, a recruiter and member for Al-Shabaab. n October 2014, Mahir was implicated in the killing of a police officer in Mombasa and following a warrant for his arrest, he fled to Tanzania in November 2014. By early 2015 however, he had told his family that he was now in Somalia training with Al-Shabaab.[25] Just two days before the attack, on January 13, 2019, Riziki had re-entered Kenya through El-Wak in Mandera Country, and took a bus to Nairobi to link up with the attack cell leader, Ali Salim Gichunge and to obtain instructions on what his part in the attack would be. He blew himself up just 48 hours later.[26]

Osman Ahmed Hassan, also known as Azzam, was one of the gunman involved in the attacks. He was born in Kenya and was of the Degodia tribe.The video Al-Shabaab released in 2020 shows him talking with the other attackers in an apartment block in Nairobi, as a video of Osama Bin Laden plays in the background.[27]

Muhammed Adam Nur, also known as Farhaan Yare, was one of the gunmen involved in the attacks. He was born in Somalia and was of the Hadame tribe.

Abdulqani Arab Yusuf, also known as Farhaan Dheere, was born in Somalia and was of the Muhammed Zubayr sub clan of the Ogaden clan

Responsibility for the attack[edit]

Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack shortly after in a statement released via Telegram by the AS-affiliated "Shahada News Agency". Soon after, Al-Shabaab released a two page statement in both Arabic and English titled "Jersualem will never be Judaized". The militant group said that it “carried out this operation – code named Operation ‘Jerusalem will never be Judaized’ – in accordance with the guidelines of Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri,” and claiming that the attack was executed due to the US recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Al-Shabaab stated that the external attack unit known as the "Saleh Nabhan battalion", named after the Al Qaeda operative killed in a drone strike in Somalia, was responsible.[28]

Aftermath[edit]

Nineteen Kenyan citizens, an American and a British-South African man died during the attack. A Kenyan woman died a year later after succumbing to her wounds, bringing the civilian death toll to 22.[29][30]

Immediately after the incident concluded, the 14 Riverside Drive complex and its immediate environs were closed to public as police termed the area an active scene of crime.[31] Security agencies were able to trace the residence of the terror suspects to Kiambu, Mombasa and Nyeri counties.[8][32] On 17 January, the Kenya Red Cross Society informed the public that all who had earlier been listed as missing had been accounted for.[33] The National Police Service was lauded for its well-organized response that saw close to 700 people being rescued from the hotel complex.[34][33] On 19 January 2019, five people appeared in court accused of assisting in the terrorist attack.[35] On the same day, the Australian embassy denied allegations that one of the fatalities was an Australian.[36] Initially both Kenyan and Australian media houses had stated that one of the victims was an Australian citizen and was visiting his girlfriend in Kenya before his death in the attack.[37][38]

In popular culture[edit]

In the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), the playable operator “Otter” is based on the British SAS Christian Craighead.[39] Craighead has written a book about his involvement in the incident which was refused express prior authority to publish which he sought to overturn in the courts, however, his appeal was dismissed.[40]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Explosions and gunfire heard in Kenyan capital Nairobi". Al Jazeera. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Nairobi DusitD2 hotel under attack as blasts and gunfire heard". BBC News. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  3. ^ Mackintosh, Eliza (15 January 2019). "11 dead as police battle gunmen at Nairobi hotel complex". CNN. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Burke, Jason (15 January 2019). "Nairobi attack: hotel gunmen in armed standoff with police". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Shabab Claim Responsibility for Attack in Nairobi". The New York Times. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Patrick, Lang'at; Elizabeth, Merab (16 January 2019). "14 dead in Dusit attack, President Kenyatta says all assailants killed". The Nation. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  7. ^ Musambi, Everlyne (15 January 2019). "Here are the tenants of 14 Riverside office park, scene of bomb attack". Nation Media. Nairobi News. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  8. ^ a b "2 Dusit killers were from Kiambu, Nyeri". The Star Newspaper. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Video clip emerges of DusitD2 suicide bomber". The Standard Group. The Standard Newspaper. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Nairobi attack: What we know so far". The Nation. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Dusit staff allowed to pick belongings: PHOTOS". Daily Nation. Nation Media. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  12. ^ a b "The Christian Craighead Rifle used in Nairobi". RE Factor Tactical. Scott Witner.
  13. ^ Hymas, Charles (4 October 2023). "Ex-SAS soldier loses court battle to lift ban on Kenyan terror attack book". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Vsak dan prvi - 24ur.com". www.24ur.com. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  15. ^ a b Rayment, Sean (25 November 2023). "SAS hero banned from selling memoir writes children's book". The Telegraph.
  16. ^ "Who was the SAS soldier with pirate badge pictured at scene of Nairobi terrorist attack?". The Independent. 16 January 2019. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  17. ^ "SAS member helped secure Nairobi hotel complex". The Guardian. Press Association. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  18. ^ a b "Hotel attackers killed by Kenyan forces". BBC News. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  19. ^ "Christian Craighead MBE CGC". RCW Literary Agency. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Kenya hotel attack death toll rises to 21". BBC News. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  21. ^ Memorial Service Held for Nairobi Terror Attack Survivor Who Died Days Shy of Anniversary
  22. ^ "Terror group says deadly Kenya attack over Trump recognition of Jerusalem". The Times of Israel. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  23. ^ a b "Al-Shabaab reveals names of terrorists who raided DusitD2 Hotel in Nairobi". Garowe Online. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Dusit attacker Gichunge was a KDF son, wife a jihadist". Nation. 28 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  25. ^ Ombati, Cyrus. "Police identify suicide bomber as radicalised Mahir Khalid from Mombasa". The Standard. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  26. ^ Hummel, Kristina (18 July 2019). "East Africa's Terrorist Triple Helix: The Dusit Hotel Attack and the Historical Evolution of the Jihadi Threat". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  27. ^ Post, Kulan (14 December 2020). "Al Shabab unveils full identities of Dusit attackers". KULAN POST. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  28. ^ says, A. D. (17 January 2019). "Shabaab says Nairobi attack carried out in accordance with Zawahiri's guidelines | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  29. ^ Head, Tom (16 January 2019). "South African killed in Nairobi attacks named as Luke Potter". The South African. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  30. ^ "DusitD2 hotel attack death toll rises to 21". Daily Nation. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  31. ^ Muhatia, Abel (17 January 2019). "40 firms affected in Dusit terror attack, complex closed". The Star. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  32. ^ "Cops raid Mombasa house where Dusit attacker lived". The Star, Kenya. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  33. ^ a b "All missing people in Dusit attack accounted for". Daily Nation. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  34. ^ Melanie, Mwangi (17 January 2019). "Police reforms group lauds Boinett for professional Dusit operation". The Star, Kenya. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  35. ^ "Sim card gives detectives crucial clues to intricate web of terrorists". Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  36. ^ "Envoy denies media reports Australian national was killed in Dusit attack". The Star, Kenya. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  37. ^ "Nairobi attack: Australian man reportedly among dead in Kenya". News.com.au. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  38. ^ "Man on trip to meet his girlfriend among Dusit victims". Daily Nation. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  39. ^ "Who are Call of Duty Operators Based On?".
  40. ^ "CHRISTIAN CRAIGHEAD and the SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE".
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