Al Qaeda-Linked Militants Storm Upscale Shopping Center In Kenya...
... 39 Dead, 150 Injured...
Family Members Of Kenyan President Among Dead

Exclusive information reaching GhanaHerald.com is that the former Chairman of the Council of State, Professor Kofi Awoonor was among those killed by al-Qaeda-linked al Shabaab terror group at Westgate Centre mall in Nairobi Kenya.

Professor Awoonor, the renowned Ghanaian poet and author was in Nairobi attending a conference and was caught in the terrorist attack by al Shabaab - a Somalia-based al-Qaeda affiliate group. The Westgate mall massacre has so far claimed the lives of 39 people and wounded at least 150.

According to Westgate centre's website, it is Kenya's "premier shopping mall" and offers a "serene and safe environment away from the city centre hubbub". A witness to the terrorist attack said that the gunmen "were not speaking swahili. They spoke something that seemed Arabic or Somali"

"A lot of people were shot as they tried to escape" said the unnamed witness. Saadia Ahmed, a radio presenter from Nairobi, said "the attackers released people who were able to prove they could speak Arabic" Ms Ahmed said "a colleague of mine said he was Muslim and recited something in Arabic and they let him go"

Professor Awoonor was born on 13th March 1935 in Wheta in the Volta region. His work combined the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people and contemporary and religious symbolism to depict Africa during decolonization.

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) -- Armed gunmen faced off with Kenyan police and soldiers inside an upscale Nairobi shopping mall early Sunday, hours after brazenly gunning down shoppers, diners and more.

39 killed and more carnage feared as Kenya mall attackers face off Around 2:30 a.m. Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET Saturday) -- an hour after reporting five "visibly shaken" hostages had been released -- Kenya's National Disaster Operation Centre cryptically tweeted "major operations underway."

What that meant was a mystery, and it didn't quell fears about what has happened or might happen to an unknown number of civilians who were still unaccounted for inside...read full article on CNN