Kenya Attack: Militants ‘Hired Kenyan Mall Shop’

The recent attack by militants at the Kenya Westgate mall hired a shop there in the weeks leading up to the siege.
This gave access to service lifts at the Westgate mall, enabling them to stockpile weapons and ammunitions.
Having pre-positioned weapons they were able to re-arm quickly and repel the security forces.
Sixty-seven people are known to have died in the four-day siege. Kenya’s Red Cross says 61 others are still missing.
Forensic experts are still combing the complex, looking for bodies and clues
The Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, says it was behind the attack and the following siege at the upmarket mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Kenya is in its third day of mourning for both the civilian and military victims of the attack
Investigations have revealed how the Westgate gunmen were able to plan and carry out the siege, and how security breaches allegedly fuelled by corruption made it an attack waiting to happen.
To rent a shop, the militants would have needed fake IDs supplied by corrupt government officials.
The BBC has also confirmed more details about how they executed their attack.
Two vehicles dropped the Islamist extremists off outside before they forced their way into the mall, sources say.
They are also believed to have set up a base using a ventilation shaft as a hiding place, on the first floor.
They rolled out heavy calibre machine guns, exploiting the moment when control of the security operation switched from the police to the military.
There are reports that this switchover was fraught with confusion.