WAS GSU RECCE SQUAD ABLE TO CONTAIN THE WESTGATE ATTACK PROMPTLY? FIND OUT Rivalry among security agencies and lack of clear command lines badly affected the response to the terrorist attack on the Westgate Mall, a local daily has reported. Reports indicate that a coordinated rescue mission was badly delayed because of disputes between the Kenya Police and KDF officers commanding their units on the ground. A reconstruction of the rescue mission indicates that a team from the Recce General Service Unit of the Kenya Police early in the rescue operation made its way into the mall and secured most of it, pinning down the terrorists at one end around Nakumatt Supermarket and Barclays Bank. However, the team pulled out after its commander was fatally shot in ‘friendly fire’ following the arrival of a KDF unit. Also pulling out at the same time was a small group of policemen from various units and armed civilians, who were the first to enter the mall from the rooftop parking and the front entrance and led hundreds of shoppers to safety. The pullout left a vacuum that apparently allowed the terrorists to regroup and move through the mall slaughtering many captives. It also allowed the terrorists to deploy heavy-calibre machine guns that they had not used in the earlier shootout. RECCE squad is a highly trained elite squad from General Service Unit that specializes in rapid response during terror attack. They unit is trained in Israel and USA. They have a sub-unit called Hostage Rescue Unit, which is specialized in rescuing hostages in any circumstance. Barely an hour after the attack, the GSU squad had taken control of almost 70 per cent of the building after moving in to reinforce the small group of policemen, who were the first to enter the building. The KDF Special Forces came in later to spearhead the operation, with the GSU forming the second inner cordon in the mall behind the army units from the 20 Para Battalion and Maroon Commandos. KDF Special Forces would be the ones to conduct the actual assault on the terrorists, while the GSU and other police units ringed the mall. The rivalry is understood to have extended to communication on how the public would be informed of the progress of the operation. Adapted from DN and edited by Baringo County-News Team.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 06:43:45 +0000
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