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Weapons ‘stored’ in mall before attack


Weapons and back-up ammunition were certainly stored at the Westgate Mall in days leading to the attack.

“I am certain that there was a major arms pile up. The militants could not have held out with the ammunition they walked in with,” says a retired spy, Philip Mutua.

According to him, the terrorists knew their way around the mall, considering the way the attack was executed.

“From the accounts we heard, these attackers had previous knowledge of the mall. They had detailed knowledge of the vast complex, including floor plans. We have also heard claims that unidentified men had access to the mall’s architectural plan from the County government’s planning department. If this is true, it reinforces our belief that they had mapped out this attack so well,” he said.

The question is why Westgate didn’t hire armed police to supplement its security given the stature of its clientele and earlier warnings from both Kenya’s NIS and even Americans that it was a soft target for a terror attack.

According to Mr Mutua, it costs less that Sh1,000 a day to hire a policeman. The mall could certainly afford dozens of armed policemen.

“Had there been armed police officers guarding the premises round the clock, the terrorists would have encountered some resistance, which would have given people time to leave the premises,” he says.