In pics: Nairobi witnesses worst terror attack since 1998 bombings

Nairobi, Sept 22: The machine gun and grenade attack in an upscale shopping mall here that killed at least 39 people and injured over 150 is the worst terror attack since the bombing of the US Embassy in 1998.

Over 200 people were killed while over 4,000 were injured after simultaneous truck bombs exploded to rock the cities of Dar-es-Salam in Tanzania and Nairobi in Kenya on August 7, 1998. The attacks were believed to be an act of retaliation against the American handling of four Egyptian Islamic Jihad members.

The assassins, including a woman, who were speaking in a Somali language and claimed to be members of Al Shabaab which has links to Al Qaeda, opened indiscriminate firing and particularly targetted the non-Muslims. They also shot children in cold blood. Am eight-year-old Indian boy was killed in the firing.

Over 200 people were killed while 4,000 were injured in the 1998 bombings

Al Shabaab later claimed responsibility for the deadly attack as an act of retaliation against Kenya's role in the fight against Somalian militants.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, son of the country's founding father Jomo Kenyatta, vowed to crush the perpetrators. His son and sister escaped from the mall unhurt but some other close relative couldn't.

Armed personnel take aim

Armed special forces aim their weapons at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, September 21, 2013.

Child being taken to hospital

An injured child being wheeled away on a shopping trolley outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday, September 21, 2013.

Anti-terror operation

An armed police officer takes cover during a bout of gunfire outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday, September 21, 2013.

In a line of action

Armed police crouch down and take position during a gun battle outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday, September 21, 2013.

OneIndia News