Gunshots rang out from the upscale mall in Kenya’s capital on Wednesday morning, the day after the president declared an end to a four-day siege by Islamic militants.
Government spokesman Manoah Esipisu said the shots came from Kenyan forces going room to room in the large Westgate Mall, firing protectively before entering unknown territory.
“During sanitisation once you take control of the place if you go to a room where you haven’t visited before you shoot first to make sure you aren’t walking into an ambush,” he said. “But there hasn’t been any gunfire from the terrorists for more than 36 hours.”
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But a top security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said even around the time President Uhuru Kenyatta told the nation in a televised address that “we have ashamed and defeated our attackers” on Tuesday night, three shots rang out at the mall.