U.S. Navy SEALs Raid al-Shabab in Somalia

An indication of how serious is the threat from the Somali terrorist group.

See, "U.S. Navy SEALs Stage Raid on Shabab Militants in Somalia."

A spokesman for the Shabab, which is based in Somalia, said that one of its fighters had been killed in an exchange of gunfire but that the group had beaten back the assault. American official initially reported that they had seized the Shabab leader, but later backed off of that account. The deadly assault on the Westgate shopping mall was a stark reminder of the power and reach of the Islamist group, which had a series of military setbacks in recent years and was widely viewed as weakened.

The F.B.I. sent dozens of agents to Nairobi after the shopping mall siege to help Kenyan authorities with the investigation. United States officials fear that the Shabab could attempt a similar attack on American soil, perhaps employing several of the group’s Somali-American recruits.

Another United States official said it was still unclear whether any Americans were involved in the Westgate mall episode, though there were growing indications that fewer attackers took part in the siege than the 10 to 15 militants the government had previously announced.

A spokesman for the Kenyan military said Saturday that it had identified four of the attackers from surveillance footage. Local news media reported their names as Abu Baara al-Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khattab al-Kene and a man known only as Umayr. “I can confirm that those are the names of the terrorists,” said Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir, the spokesman.

The footage, broadcast on Kenyan television on Friday night, showed four of the attackers moving about the mall with cool nonchalance, no hint in their demeanor that they had stormed a shopping center and massacred dozens of people, much less that they feared an imminent counterassault from Kenyan security services.

One loitered in the grocery checkout aisle, talking on his cellphone. Another slouched in a storage room like a worker on break.

You can see that here, "Kenya Identifies Terrorists in #Westgate Massacre (VIDEO)."