ABSTRACT
The Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, was a new, Israeli-owned, upscale shopping facility frequented by US and Canadian embassy personnel, expatriates, and locals for its great food, shopping, and entertainment. In addition to a large children’s play area, the mall boasted a mid-sized casino that served alcohol to high-stakes gamblers. Westgate and its unsuspecting occupants were a perfect target for al-Shabaab terrorists, who attacked on Saturday, September 21, 2013, killing 67 people and injuring 179 others in a four-day standoff. The fears of intelligence and security analysts around the world were realized: shopping malls were officially added to the terrorist playbook.
