In an attack that comes on the third anniversary since hundreds of Kenya Defence Forces soldiers were killed during an attack by the militants at their El Adde camp in Somalia and six years after the Westgate terror attack that left 67 people dead, Kenya security officers were on high alert and conducted the rescue operation in a professional manner never seen again by African elite forces.
Three teams were drawn from the General Service unit with elite Recce squad taking the lead in an effort to take control of the situation that left several people with injuries.
Other armed teams, both in civilian and police uniform were seen carefully evacuating hundreds of people who were caught in the incident.
Backed by remote-controlled robots, which were used for surveillance and to map out the floors the attackers were suspected to be holed up, the commandos finally established that the killers were on the seventh floor.
At this point, the two commando units with seven members each, were on third floor and were solely relying on a robot that had gone up to the sixth floor and located the militants on the upper floor based on electronic signals.
Swiftly, one team ran up the stairs and locked the exit leading to the sixth floor. They held their positions on the fifth floor.)
By 3am, the special forces had combed through six floors before trapping the attackers.
All this time the commandos had switched off power supply to the entire building to disable the lifts.
The second team of seven officers used ropes to scale the sides of the building and accessed the seventh floor through a window.
Their entry forced the terrorists, who were at one far end, to try retreating to the sixth floor, but they realized the door leading to the staircase had been locked.
The team felt that if they waited until morning to mount a rescue operation, it would endanger the lives of those who were trapped because the terrorists would see their movements and strike.
After freeing all the people, a decision was made to make a final push and target where the gang was hiding.
An idea to jam communication at the complex was floated, but some commanders rejected it.
“We felt that by blocking communication we would cause panic among those trapped therein and who were in touch with their loved ones. This idea was defeated and the jammer removed from the scene,” said another official.
At about 4am, a decision was made to storm the room where the four terrorists were. They had been trapped for some time and the commandos were confident that they were worn out.
The team that was on the seventh floor was in constant communication with their colleagues on fifth floor. This first team charged first, blowing up the entrance to the sixth floor and into a room where the killers quietly awaited their fate.
Those at the front held up bulletproof shields as their colleagues sprayed the room with high calibre assault rifles.
Congrats recce squad