Death toll rises from Kenyan terror attack

Kenyan officials on Wednesday said 21 people died in Tuesday’s terror attack on a Nairobi hotel. Authorities investigating the incident discovered six more bodies at the scene, and one injured police officer died in the hospital, said Joseph Boinnet, inspector general of the National Police Service. The casualties included 16 Kenyans, one Briton, one American, and three other unidentified Africans, according to police. At least 28 others sustained injuries.

The family of American businessman Jason Spindler confirmed he died in the attack. Spindler had a close call with terrorism on 9/11; he worked in the World Trade Center at the time but was running late and emerged from the subway just as the first tower collapsed. His father, Joseph Spindler, said he was in Kenya to form business partnerships that would boost local economies there.

During the 20-hour incursion in Nairobi, five al-Shabaab militants set off multiple explosions and opened fire inside the luxury hotel complex. Police arrested two people linked to planning the attack. In a two-page statement, al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab claimed it was retaliating against U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The group said it targeted “Western and Zionist interests worldwide, and in support of our Muslim families in Palestine.”