'No women involved' in Kenya attack

Somali terrorist group al-Shabab has said that no women were involved in the attack on a Kenyan mall that left at least six Britons dead.

The denial came after speculation that British terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite, who was married to the July 7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, was involved in the atrocity that claimed more than 60 lives.

It finally came to an end on Tuesday with five militants killed and 11 others in custody, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta announced in a televised address.

Kenya’s foreign minister Amina Mohamed had said that a British woman who had been allegedly involved in terrorism “many times before” was one of the militants who laid siege to the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi. The woman was said to have acted alongside “two or three” Americans, but al-Shabab, which has links to al Qaida, said only men were involved.

In a statement to the Associated Press news agency, al-Shabab dismissed suggestions that a woman had been involved in the attack. “We have an adequate number of young men who fully committed and ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of Allah and for the sake of their religion, so there is no need for us to employ our sisters in the battlefield and thereby expose them to unnecessary risk,” it said.

Mr Kenyatta said forensic teams were working to establish the identities of the terrorists and confirmed intelligence reports had been received suggesting that a British woman and a number of American nationals had been involved.

He said in his address: “As I had promised earlier, we have ashamed and defeated our attackers. That part of our task has been completed by our multi-agency security team. I promise that we shall have full accountability for the mindless destruction, deaths, pain, loss and suffering we have all undergone as a national family. These cowards will meet justice, as will their accomplices, wherever they are.”

But while he said “the worst” of the crisis was now over, it was unclear whether Kenyan security forces had accounted for all the militants.

Lewthwaite, dubbed the “White Widow”, is known to be in East Africa and is wanted by Kenyan police over alleged links to a terrorist cell that planned to bomb the country’s coast. In March last year officials said she had fled to Somalia and that officers were hunting a woman who used several identities, including hers.

It is feared the death count could rise as Kenya prepares to start three days of national mourning. Mr Kenyatta said at least 61 civilians are known to have died, along with six members of security forces. Approximately 175 people have been injured, with 62 remaining in hospital.

'No women involved' in Kenya attack