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Kenya Opens Mourning Period as Mall Seige Ends

HeadlineSep 25, 2013

Kenya has begun three days of mourning for at least 67 people killed in the siege of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. The death count could still rise if more bodies are found in the rubble of the mall’s three floors. On Tuesday, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta declared final victory four days after the attack began. Kenyatta said at least five militant attackers were killed by gunfire and 11 other suspects are in custody. The Somali militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it retaliation for Kenyan military intervention in Somalia. On Tuesday, attack survivor Aleem Manji made an appeal for people not to conflate the militants’ actions with the teachings of Islam.

Aleem Manji: “This is not Islam. Islam is something else altogether. Islam is peace. Islam is about togetherness, humanity. What I saw there was not Islam. And if you ever, ever think for a minute that those people represent us, they don’t. And they never will. And please don’t let them win by thinking it.”

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