The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 21, 2013, calling it a "consequence" of Kenya's military involvement in Somalia.

The Shabaab's Press Office posted messages about the incident on its English Twitter account on September 21. According to media reports, a number of gunmen hurled grenades and opened fire on people at the mall, killing at least two dozen and injuring more than 50 others. The Shabaab stated: "By Land, air and sea, #Kenyan forces invaded our Muslim country, killing hundreds of Muslims in the process and displacing thousands more / The attack at #WestgateMall is just a very tiny fraction of what Muslims in Somalia experience at the hands of Kenyan invaders. #Wetsgate" / For long we have waged war against the Kenyans in our land, now it’s time to shift the battleground and take the war to their land #Westgate"

Following is a copy of the English Tweets:

HSM has on numerous occasions warned the #Kenyan government that failure to remove its forces from Somalia would have severe consequences

The Kenyan government, however, turned a deaf ear to our repeated warnings and continued to massacre innocent Muslims in Somalia #Westgate

By Land, air and sea, #Kenyan forces invaded our Muslim country, killing hundreds of Muslims in the process and displacing thousands more

The attack at #WestgateMall is just a very tiny fraction of what Muslims in Somalia experience at the hands of Kenyan invaders. #Wetsgate

For long we have waged war against the Kenyans in our land, now it’s time to shift the battleground and take the war to their land #Westgate

The Mujahideen entered #Westgate Mall today at around noon and are still inside the mall, fighting the #Kenyan Kuffar inside their own turf

Since our last contact, the Mujahideen inside the mall confirmed to @HSM_Press that they killed over 100 Kenyan kuffar & battle is ongoing

What Kenyans are witnessing at #Westgate is retributive justice for crimes committed by their military, albeit largely miniscule in nature

The attacks are just retribution for the lives of innocent Muslims shelled by Kenyan jets in Lower Jubba and in refugee camps  #Westgate

The message we are sending to the Kenyan govt & Public is and has always been just one: remove all your forces from our country #Westgate

BREAKING: HSM Press has just made contact with the Mujahideen inside #Westgate Mall. They are still fighting and still strong. Stay tuned!

Only Kuffar were singled out for this attack. All Muslims inside #Westgate were escorted out by the Mujahideen before beginning the attack

They Kenyan govt is pleading with our Mujahideen inside the mall for negotiations. There will be no negotiations whatsoever at #Westgate

• Prev
• Next