The coordinated blasts and gunfire started Tuesday afternoon local time at the DusitD2 compound, an upmarket cluster of shops and hotel facilities in the capital of Nairobi.
An unknown number of gunmen burst through the complex, leading to a standoff that continued through the night, with people trapped in various parts of the buildings hours later.
Friends and relatives of those unaccounted for anxiously waited for word on their loved ones early Wednesday as the interior ministry announced that authorities had evacuated people from the compound, and the site had been secured.
A source helping with security at the hotel called the death toll “conservative,” and said it’s expected to rise. The fatalities included a US citizen, the State Department said, but did not provide details.
Somali Islamist militant group, Al-Shabaab, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. It’s the most high-profile terror attack in the East African country in years, and happened three years to the day after Al-Shabaab militants targeted a Kenyan military base in neighboring Somalia, killing dozens of soldiers.
