No female terrorists; only men in women’s clothing, says Internal Security Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku

By ALLY JAMAH

KENYA: Internal Security Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku has pricked the balloon of speculation that a woman is leading the criminal gang behind the Westgate Mall siege that has left scores of people dead.

Western media has been rife with reports that the operation that has also left hundreds injured and shocked the whole nation, was being commanded by Samantha Lewthwaite, a 27-year-old British woman who is an active member of Al-Shabaab.

The reports suggested that a white woman was shouting orders to gunmen during the bloody massacre inside the shopping mall. Ms Lewthwaite, daughter of a former British soldier, is the widow of Jermaine Lindsay, who was behind terrorist attacks in Britain in 2007. She grew up in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom.

But yesterday, Lenku denied the presence of a woman, saying all of the attackers were men. He also revealed that the two attackers who were killed by security forces were dressed as women.

“As far as we know, there is no woman involved in the operation. They are all men. But we don’t want to dwell on the gender issue for now,” he said.

British newspapers had quoted unnamed sources in the police claiming Lewthwaite could be behind the attack. They also quoted survivors describing how a woman appeared to be commanding the other terrorists as they hunted down and killed shoppers. They cited previous Al-Shabaab praise for Lewthwaite as a “brave woman” to suggest that her lead role could have been significantly plausible. By yesterday afternoon, security forces reported killing at least two of the attackers and injuring several others, but declined to give further details for security reasons. They confirmed that all the four floors of the mall had been taken over by Kenyan forces.

“The smoke that was coming out of the mall was not as a result of bomb blasts. The terrorists had set mattresses on fire in a supermarket to distract attention and allow them an escape route,” he said.

Lenku also revealed that ten members of the security forces battling the attackers were injured during the operation and were being treated.