Post date: Sep 28, 2013 8:50:25 PM
Nairobi residents hold candlelight vigil to remember the victims of the shopping mall attack a week ago.
NAIROBI, KENYA (SEPTEMBER 28, 2013) (REUTERS) - Dozens of Nairobi residents held a candlelight vigil on Saturday (September 28) to remember those who were killed in an attack by al Shabaabmilitants in a shopping mall a week ago.
Many Kenyans agree that the bloodshed has helped foster a greater sense of national unity."We Kenyans we realise we are all one together, whoever we are, be it Asian, African, Chinese, European, anything - we are all one. The blood is the same. We all have to stand together to fight this kind of terrorism. We do not need this, we do not need this at all. And we will fight them. We will fight them," said Vipal Shah, who lit candles at the vigil.
"I have come to pray and give my respects to the people whom we have lost. They were not related to me but they are related to me. This incident has brought us all together, we feel for them, we feel for their families. What has happened is not good, it is very sad. That is why I am here," said another local resident, Kushna Patel.
Young children and families could be seen lighting candles and laying down flowers at a corner where images of some the victims were on display.
At least 67 civilians and police were killed when gunmen opened fire and hurled grenades inside the Westgate shopping mall, popular with Westerners and Kenyans on September 21.
The government said on Saturday it is "at war" with the Islamist militants behind the attack as it faced questions about whether it had received advance intelligence warnings of the deadly strike.
Three Kenyan newspapers reported on Saturday that a year ago the country'sNational Intelligence Service (NIS) had warned of the presence of suspected al Shabaab militants in Nairobi and that they were planning to carry out "suicide attacks" on the Westgate mall and on a church in the city.
In the mall attack that extended into a four-day siege, gunmen fired on shoppers and tossed grenades leaving a trail of victims and shocking Kenya and the world.
Al Shabaab said it acted in revenge against Kenyan troops who have been fighting it in neighbouring Somalia for two years.