April Jones Funeral: Machynlleth To Mourn

By Mike McCarthy, Sky Correspondent in Machynlleth

The funeral of April Jones is due to take place in the murdered schoolgirl's home town later.

A horse-drawn cortege will take mourners including the five-year-old's parents from her Machynlleth home to the church shortly before midday.

It is almost a year to the day since the five-year-old went missing - with her murderer, Mark Bridger, jailed for his entire life in May - but reminders of the youngster are visible throughout the town.

A memorial garden has been built on the estate of Bryn y Gog, close to the home where she lived throughout her brief life.

April's favourite colour pink has been used extensively. A bench bearing her name has been placed among the trees and next to a pink playhouse.

April's body has never been found

Up in the Welsh hills overlooking her hometown, a tree has been intricately wrapped in knitted pink patches and below in the valley pink ribbons still adorn many of the shop fronts and houses.

But the town is different now according to Councillor Mike Williams, a friend and neighbour of April's family.

He explained: "It's the magnitude of an event in which a five-year-old girl was ripped from her family, ripped from the community, in such a vile and vicious way.

"But the town has stayed together and together we will be. We will be as one and we will be always with the family in support."

People in Machynlleth joined the search for the missing girl

April Jones' funeral reflects the wishes of her grieving parents Paul and Coral, who had wondered for months whether it would even be possible as their daughter's body was never found apart from fragments of bone.

Two poems by a local writer - one called April and the other called An Autumn Night - are being read during the service in the parish church of St Peter's, and the words of well-known hymns have been changed to suit the family.

Vicar Kathleen Rogers told Sky News: "This is a huge thing for Paul and Coral.

"They need to be able to say goodbye to their daughter and this service will hopefully enable them to do that.

"Hopefully it will be a closing of this particular chapter. Another chapter will now open as they now start to grieve privately.

"Hopefully this service will help them a little bit on this horrendous journey that they're on."

The small town of Machynlleth lies in the Dyfi valley surrounded by hills and mountains. It is the kind of tranquil place where many people took for granted the inherent sense of safety.

But that has changed.

Everyone seems to agree that as a result of April's death parents, for example, are more cautious about their children's whereabouts.

It will take at least a generation perhaps for the lost innocence to return ... if it ever does.

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Kenya: UK And US Helping Probe Of Mall

Experts from countries including the UK, the US and Israel are helping Kenyan authorities as the forensic investigation into the Nairobi mall massacre begins.

The death toll, currently at 67, is expected to rise as bodies are retrieved from beneath the rubble of three collapsed floors.

Specialists from Canada and Germany are also helping gather evidence and reconstruct what happened when militants from the Somalia-based al Shabaab group stormed the shopping centre on Saturday.

Explosives experts and sniffer dogs are also searching for booby traps in the wreckage.

Newly-released pictures show a gaping hole in the mall's roof and mounds of rubble.

More bodies are expected to be found beneath the rubble

The devastation was caused after soldiers fired rocket-propelled grenades and knocked out a support column, a Kenyan government official, speaking anonymously, told the AP news agency.

The official said soldiers fired to distract a sniper so that hostages could be evacuated.

Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said that a "forensic audit" - including fingerprinting, DNA testing and ballistic examination - was taking place at the mall and was expected to last at least seven days.

Sporadic gunfire could still be heard on Wednesday as Kenyan troops continued to move through the building.

"During sanitisation, once you take control of the place, if you go to a room where you haven't visited before you shoot first to make sure you aren't walking into an ambush," said government spokesman Manoah Esipisu.

A funeral is held for victims Selima Merali and her daughter Nuriana Merali

"But there hasn't been any gunfire from the terrorists for more than 36 hours."

Al Shabaab has claimed the damage to the building was caused when security forces carried out "a demolition" during the raid, burying 137 hostages in rubble - an allegation strongly denied by the government.

The group also called on Kenya to pull its troops out of neighbouring Somalia or "face more bloodshed".

According to the AP news agency, it also said that foreigners were a "legitimate target" and confirmed that gunmen had tried to let Muslims go free.

In an email a spokesman reportedly said: "The Mujahideen carried out a meticulous vetting process at the mall and have taken every possible precaution to separate the Muslims from the Kuffar (disbelievers) before carrying out their attack."

At least 18 foreigners were killed as terrorists marched into the four-storey mall at midday on Saturday, shooting shoppers with machine guns and tossing grenades.

Kenyan troops stormed the shopping complex after the attack

Six Britons - including an eight-year-old girl - are confirmed to be among them, but Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has warned there may be further British victims.

Work to establish the identities of the terrorists is under way - including whether one of them was a British woman.

Al Shabaab has denied a female was involved, but some Kenyan officials have suggested intelligence was received that at least one Briton and up to three Americans were with the attackers.

US Attorney General Eric Holder has said there is so far no verification that any Americans were involved.

Five attackers were killed during the siege and 10 suspects arrested on Sunday are being interrogated.

Sky News' Stuart Ramsay, in Nairobi, said at least five of those being held are understood to have been part of the initial attack group which sprayed bullets and then escaped the mall.

People queue to donate blood to help victims of the attack

The rest are said to be part of the "support team".

He described how some of those in custody allegedly fled the scene by pretending to be members of the public and mixing in with people being evacuated.

"Multiple witnesses have said they saw gunmen put down weapons, change clothes and leave with … people being guided out," Sky's Ramsay said.

"We know of one gentlemen who went to the police and said 'that man was involved in the shooting' - but he was ushered on."

He also described how the attackers positioned a sniper to repel soldiers as they attempted to enter the mall during the first day of the siege.

Kenya has begun three days of mourning for the victims of the attack.

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Kenya Siege Survivors Tell Of Brush With Death

Survivors of the Nairobi shopping centre terrorist attack have spoken of their attempts to hide from armed gunman as fired indiscriminately among shoppers.

The attack at the Westgate shopping centre, which began on Saturday, has so far killed at least 67 people.

Eleven suspects are in custody and five of the attackers - thought to be members of Somalia's al Shabaab group - have been killed but it is still unclear whether the four-day siege has been ended.

Ben Mulwa had just got out of his car after arriving at the mall for lunch with a friend.

He described running from his vehicle into the mall to escape the shooting when he saw four men armed with automatic weapons.

"There was a security guard who came to seek safety right next to where I was," he told Sky News after returning to hospital.

"He was the first to be shot dead because I remember they shot him right through the head

"Before I could come to terms with that, that's when I saw the second gunman pointing a gun in my direction. All I remember is I heard a very loud bang.

"I think I almost passed out for a couple of seconds. A bullet grazed over my forehead - how he was able to miss to hit me and he was only three or four metres away from me is a miracle somehow."

Kenyan security forces outside the Westgate mall

Mr Mulwa was hit on the knee and hid in a flowerbed before he was rescued.

Syed Ibrahim was shot by the gunmen and pleaded for his life, before the terrorists let him go.

He said: "I just told them to leave me alone, I've been injured, so they let me go and said we won't do anything to you because you have been shot already.

"The memory, you can't forget, you usually see it on TV or in movies. You wouldn't expect to see it in reality.

"It's not yet over, let's pray for the best."

Meanwhile, a five-year-old bravely confronted one of the gunman in the mall, telling him: "You're a very bad man, let us leave."

The Sun newspaper reported the little boy stood up to one of the terrorists after he shot his mother Amber in the leg.

But the gunman then gave the boy and his six-year-old sister Mars Bars, before letting them escape the mall.

The children's father, Dan Prior, said: "I am very relieved that my family have survived and my thoughts go out to those families that are not as fortunate as my own. 

"My children are traumatised and my wife is very unwell as a result of this senseless atrocity."

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Kenya Mall Attackers 'Ashamed And Defeated'

The Kenyan President says terrorists who attacked a Nairobi mall have been "ashamed and defeated", but that losses from the attack were "immense".

Four days after al Shabaab gunmen invaded the busy Westgate shopping centre, Uhuru Kenyatta announced that 11 suspects are in custody and five of the attackers are dead.

A CCTV image of two militants inside the mall

"We have ashamed and defeated our attackers - that part of our task is completed," Mr Kenyatta said as he called for three days of national mourning.

"Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed."

The President said the terrorists had killed 67 people - 61 civilians and six members of the security forces. Six Britons, including an eight-year-old girl, are among the dead. 

But Mr Kenyatta indicated that the death toll, which was previously at 62, would rise further as bodies of victims were recovered from the mall.

"Towards the tail end of the operation, three floors of the Westgate mall collapsed and there are several bodies trapped in the rubble including the terrorists," he said.

"These cowards will meet justice as will their accomplices and patrons, wherever they are."

Mr Kenyatta said his country 'stared down evil and triumphed'

Police said all the attackers were now either dead or in custody.

"Now it is for the forensic and criminal experts," said police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi.

Kenyan officials have announced the imminent end of the siege for the past three days - something al Shabaab spokesmen have mocked in commentaries and in postings on social media.

Some hours before Mr Kenyatta spoke, the Somali terror group said its militants were still holding out with hostages and that there were "countless dead bodies" still inside the complex.

Smoke rises from the mall on Tuesday

Mr Kenyatta also said forensic experts would examine the bodies of the attackers to determine if British or Americans were involved.

"Intelligence reports had suggested that a British woman and two or three American citizens may have been involved in the attack," Mr Kenyatta said.

"We cannot confirm the details at present but forensic experts are working to ascertain the nationalities of the terrorists."

Bullet holes around a window of the complex

However, al Shabaab themselves, on Twitter, denied that any women took part. 

The attackers marched into the four-storey, part Israeli-owned mall at midday on Saturday, shooting dead shoppers with machine guns and tossing grenades.

Al Shabaab said it carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia.

Mr Kenyatta had rejected the militants' demands that he pull Kenyan troops out of its northern neighbour. 

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Kenya Siege: British Woman 'Among Attackers'

A British woman and "two or three Americans" are among the militants who took part in an attack on a shopping centre in Nairobi.

Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed has confirmed that al Shabaab fighters were responsible for the attack, adding that the militants included Americans and a Briton.

In an interview with the PBS Newshour programme, Ms Mohamed said: "Both the victims and the perpetrators ... came from Kenya, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"From the information that we have, (there are) two or three Americans, and I think so far I have heard of one Brit."

Asked about the British woman, Ms Mohamed added: "A woman, woman, and I think she has done this many times before."

Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed spoke to the PBS Newshour programme

Ms Mohamed said the Americans are aged about 18 or 19 years.

"The Americans, from the information that we have, are young men. About between 18 and 19, of Somali origin or Arab origin, but that ... lived in the US in Minnesota and one other place," she said.

"I think that just goes to underline the global nature of the war that we're fighting."

Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which began on Saturday.

Kenyan security forces took control of the shopping centre after a final assault on the militants.

Police are conducting a sweep of the complex following the rescue of the remaining hostages.

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Kenya Siege: Special Forces 'Sanitising' Mall

Kenyan special forces clearing a shopping centre where gunmen have killed at least 62 people are not encountering any resistance, a government spokesman has said.

All hostages trapped by the attackers have been evacuated from the Nairobi complex and the three-day-long siege was nearing its end, Manoah Esipisu believed.

But he cautioned that some of the insurgents could still be hiding after up to 15 of them stormed the building on Saturday in a grenade and gun attack targeting terrified shoppers.

Troops have been combing the building, going from floor to floor looking for "anyone left behind", said the interior ministry, adding its forces were "in control" of the Westgate mall.

The gunmen were believed to be members of al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group al Shabaab which said the assault was in retaliation for Kenya's military helping the government in Mogadishu.

Six British nationals are believed to have been killed in the terror attack. Among the dead were eight-year-old Jenah Bawa and 33-year-old Ross Langdon.

Victims: Ross Langdon, Eliv Yavus and eight-year-old Jenah Bawa

The architect, who had dual Australian nationality, died alongside his Dutch wife Eliv Yavus who was pregnant and due to give birth in two weeks.

Colleagues of Mr Langdon told Sky News: "We were shocked at the news. Ross was the kind of guy who restored your faith in humanity - what a senseless waste."

Almost 200 people were hurt in the attack, and 63 others had been recorded missing by the Red Cross - a figure thought to include hostages as well as those possibly killed.

Mr Esipisu said: "Our special forces are inside the building checking the rooms. Obviously it's a very, very big building.

"We think that everyone, the hostages, have been evacuated but we don't want to take any chances. The special forces are doing their job and yes, I think we are near the end."

Smoke is seen rising from the shopping centre

He also told AFP: "The special forces call this sanitising. It's a very complex and very delicate operation.

"At the moment they have not met any resistance, but of course we are not ruling out the possibility that there are a couple of them hiding in a remote room or corner."

Earlier, Islamist militants were reported to be "running and hiding" in stores as security forces closed in.

Kenyan police said three terrorists had been killed and others were hurt after the military launched a major assault.

Eleven soldiers from the Kenyan Defence Force were wounded in the fighting, and more than 10 people have been arrested over Saturday's attack.

Interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku said there was "no way out" for the militants and "no room for escape".

Around lunchtime, four huge explosions were heard followed by a barrage of gunfire at the shopping complex in the Kenyan capital.

Police and volunteers react after hearing gunshots

Black smoke poured from the top of the building as troops lay siege to the mall while military and police helicopters circled above.

Security officials at the scene said the explosions had been caused by Kenyan forces who set off blasts to get in through the roof.

However, Mr Lenku said the smoke had been down to the al Shabaab fighters setting fire to mattresses as a decoy.

Defence chief General Julius Karangi said militants "from all over the world" took part in the Nairobi assault.

The atrocity is the worst in Nairobi since an al Qaeda bomb attack on the US embassy in 1998 that killed more than 200 people.

The Kenyan Red Cross has set up a webpage for anyone worried about friends or relatives who might be caught up in the siege.

Prime Minister David Cameron has chaired a Cobra meeting to review the situation and said reports now indicated six British casualties.

:: A helpline has been set up for people in the UK who are concerned about relatives in Kenya: 020 7008 000.

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Kenya Attack: Final Assault To End Stand-Off

Kenyan troops are carrying out a major assault against al Shabaab gunmen in Kenya in a bid to end the stand-off inside a Nairobi shopping centre.

The Kenyan Defence Force has secured most of the Westgate shopping complex, and most of the hostages have been rescued.

Officials say up to 15 al Shabaab militants may still be inside the centre.

Kenyan military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna has told Sky News: "We cannot reveal the numbers of gunmen we suspect are there, but we estimate the operation will end very soon.

"We do not negotiate with terrorists and that position has not changed. Everyone who has been rescued is being checked to make sure none of the terrorists escaped during the dragnet."

Troops gather outside the Westgate shopping centre

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta says there have been "numerous offers of assistance from friendly countries" to help end the stand-off, but that for now it remains a Kenyan operation.

However, a Kenyan security source has confirmed that Israeli agents "are rescuing the hostages and the injured". The Westgate shopping complex is part Israeli-owned.

The Kenyan Red Cross say 68 people have been confirmed dead after gunmen stormed the shopping centre on Saturday.

At least 49 people remain missing, and at least 200 people have been injured.

Police have conceded that the death toll could be "much, much higher", after reports emerged that there are multiple fatalities still inside the shopping centre.

Kenyan soldiers enter the main gate of the shopping centre

The Foreign Office said three Britons were among those killed and warned that number is likely to rise.

It also said it was "looking into" unsubstantiated claims that a list of names of those purported to be linked to the attack had been published on Twitter.

Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the "despicable attack", saying it was an act of "appalling brutality".

"Because the situation is ongoing, we should prepare ourselves for further bad news," he added.

Also killed in the attack were two Canadians, two French citizens, two Indian citizens, a South Korean, a South African, a Dutch woman and the former UN envoy Kofi Awoonor.

A Kenyan army soldier takes cover behind a wall near the centre

The Kenyan Red Cross has set up a webpage for anyone worried about friends or relatives who might be caught up in the incident.

Security forces have taken control of the upper and lower levels of the shopping complex, and an army spokesman told Sky News they were trying to secure the second floor where the terrorists may be hiding.

Other reports suggested the attackers are holed up in a toilet block next to a supermarket on the ground floor of the complex.

The Somalia-based al Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility and warned of further attacks.

Mr Kenyatta said one of his nephews and his nephew's fiancee were among the people confirmed killed.

Onlookers watch as the stand-off continues at the Westgate complex

"They shall not get away with their despicable and beastly acts," the President said in an emotional speech to the nation. "We will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully."

The attack is the worst in Nairobi since an al Qaeda bombing at the US embassy killed more than 200 people in 1998.

:: A helpline has been set up for people in the UK who are concerned about relatives in Kenya: 020 7008 000.

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Kenya: Dramatic Video Shows Moment Of Attack

Where The Victims Are From

Updated: 4:46pm UK, Sunday 22 September 2013

The attack on the upscale Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi has killed at least 59 people and wounded some 175 more. The dead include Africans, Europeans, Asians and North Americans.

KENYA
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta says he shares the grief of the nation - his nephew and nephew's fiancee are among the dead.

INDIA
Two Indians were killed and four wounded in the attack, said Syed Akbaruddin, spokesman for India's External Affairs Ministry.

BRITAIN
Britain's Foreign Office said at least three UK nationals were killed in the attack and warned  the number of fatalities is "likely to rise."

FRANCE
French President Francois Holland said two French women were killed.

SOUTH AFRICA
One South African citizen was killed, said the country's International Relations Department.

CANADA
Two Canadians - including a diplomat - died in the attack, according to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He paid tribute to the victims and noted the loss of diplomat Annemarie Desloges, who served in Canada's High Commission to Kenya as a liaison officer with the Canada Border Services Agency.

GHANA
Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor died after being injured in the attack, Ghana's presidential office said. In addition to his writings, Awoonor was a professor and a former ambassador Brazil, Cuba and the United Nations.

THE NETHERLANDS
Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans confirmed a 33-year-old Dutch woman has died and that seven other Dutch citizens who were in the centre escaped unharmed. The victim's identity was not released.

CHINA
A 38-year-old Chinese woman was killed the Chinese Embassy in Kenya said in a statement. Her son was injured and hospitalised in a stable condition, according to the statement posted on the embassy's website.

US
The wife of a foreign service national working for the US Agency for International Development was killed, and four American citizens were reported injured, said US officials.

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Kenya: 'If You Were Muslim They Let You Go'

A witness to the attack by al Shabaab militants on a shopping centre in Nairobi has told Sky News the gunmen killed anyone who was not Muslim.

Saadia Ahmed, a radio presenter from Nairobi, said: "We heard three explosions outside the building then all of a sudden we heard gunshots and people ducked down.

"A lot of people were shot while they were trying to escape. I saw one of the gunmen with an AK-47 and later two of them were talking and it sounded like Somali or Arabic."

Ms Ahmed said the attackers released people who were able to prove they could speak Arabic.

Armed police search customers taking cover in a washroom

"I witnessed a few people get up and say something in Arabic and the gunmen let them go. A colleague of mine said he was Muslim and recited something in Arabic and they let him go as well.

"I saw a lot of children and elderly people being shot dead. I don't understand why you would shoot a five-year-old child. They were firing at random at anyone who tried to escape."

Hannah Chisholm, a Briton visiting Nairobi, said she and 60 others barricaded themselves into a large storeroom.

"We kept running to different places but the shots were getting louder so we barricaded ourselves along with about 60 others into a large storeroom," she said.

"There were children hiding with us as well as someone who had been shot. The gunfire was loud and we were scared but at that point we thought the gunmen were thieves so we assumed they wouldn't try to reach the storeroom."

Satpal Singh, who was in a cafe when the attackers struck, said he ran downstairs before he was shot near the exit.

"A Somali guy shot at me," he said. "He was carrying a rifle, an AK-47."

A witness, who gave only his first name, Jay, said: "They were not speaking Swahili. They spoke something that seemed like Arabic or Somali."

More follows...

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Kenya Attack: Hostages Held In Terror Strike

Gunmen are holding hostages inside a Nairobi shopping centre where 39 people have been killed and more than 150 others wounded in a terrorist attack.

Several children were among those massacred by al Qaeda-linked terrorists armed with guns and grenades.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said British nationals have been caught up in the "callous and cowardly and brutal" attack at the Westgate shopping centre in Kenya's capital.

The Kenya National Disaster Operation Centre said an uncertain number of shoppers and staff are still being held by al Shabaab gunman inside the complex.

Hundreds of shoppers were caught up in the attack

Security officials say five hostages have been freed from the centre.

"Operations are continuing," a Kenyan security officer said at the scene.

"We will free all those inside and stop this. Of course we cannot give details of the operations except to say that everything that can be done is being done," the official added.

Gunmen wearing bullet-proof vests opened fire and detonated grenades inside the shopping centre, which is popular with expatriates and wealthy Kenyans.

Security staff rescued those unable to walk

Two Canadian citizens have been confirmed dead in the attack. It is understood that two French citizens are also among those killed.

The US State Department has confirmed that American citizens have been reported injured, but not killed.

Some of those killed were executed after failing to recite a Muslim prayer at gunpoint. Others were shot at the entrance to the mall as they tried to escape.

The Somalia-based al Shabaab terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack and warned of more attacks.

The Westgate shopping centre is located in the centre of Nairobi

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has spoken to the nation in a televised address, saying that Kenya had "overcome terrorist attacks before, and we will defeat them again."

"Our security forces are in the process of neutralising the attackers and securing the mall," he added.

"Terrorism is a philosophy of cowards. They want to cause fear and despondency in our country, but we will not be cowed.

"I ask God to give you comfort. My government will provide the support needed in the days to come."

Armed security staff went from shop to shop looking for the attackers

Saadia Ahmed, a radio presenter from Nairobi caught up in the attack, told Sky News how the attack began.

"We heard three explosions outside the building then all of a sudden we heard gunshots and people ducked down," she said.

"A lot of people were shot while they were trying to escape. I saw one of the gunmen with an AK-47 and later two of them were talking and it sounded like Somali or Arabic."

Ms Ahmed said the attackers released people who were able to prove they were Muslim.

Police rescued hostages as they searched for the gunmen

"I witnessed a few people get up and say something in Arabic and the gunmen let them go. A colleague of mine said he was Muslim and recited something in Arabic and they let him go as well.

"I saw a lot of children and elderly people being shot dead. I don't understand why you would shoot a five-year-old child. They were firing at random at anyone who tried to escape."

Abbas Guled, a spokesman for the Kenyan Red Cross, said: "The casualties are many and that's only what we have on the outside.

"Inside there are even more casualties and shooting is still going on."

:: A helpline has been set up for people in the UK who are concerned about relatives in Kenya: 020 7008 000.

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