Islamist group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which they entered Westgate Shopping Mall shooting and throwing grenades.
Following these devastating events, we take a look at the person being called the ‘mastermind’ behind the operation and possibly one of the most controversial characters in the world.
That woman is the White Widow.
Who is she?
British-born Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, grew up in Aylesbury, Hertfordshire, and was born to a Northern Irish mother and British solider father.
According to friends, Samantha was deeply troubled when her parents split up and she found comfort in her Muslim neighbours.
Samantha met Jamaican-born, Christian-Muslim covert Germaine Lindsay in an Islamic chat room.
At the time, she was studying religion and politics at London’s School of Oriental and African studies.
Shortly after meeting Germaine, Samantha converted to Islam herself and started calling herself Sherafiyah.
Her relationship with Germaine Lindsay
Germaine Lindsay was one of the four men responsible for the 7/7 London terrorist attacks in 2005. Germaine detonated his bomb on a train travelling between King’s Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square, killing himself and 26 others.
At the time of the attacks, Samantha was living with Germaine in Aylesbury. They had a 15-month-old son and she was eight months pregnant with their daughter.
She is claimed to have said to a UK newspaper in 2005 her “whole world had fallen apart” because of Germaine’s involvement in the terrorist attacks.
She said: “I totally condemn and am horrified by the atrocities. I am the wife of Germaine Lindsay and never predicted or imagined that he was involved in such horrific activities.
Extremist Activity
Despite publically claiming she condemned her husband’s behavior, shortly afterwards she disappeared.
BBC journalist Peter Taylor said of Samantha: “At the time of the 7/7 bombings, the impression was that she disapproved and was highly critical of her husband’s actions.
“Then she disappears off the radar and turns up again in Kenya. It would appear she became involved with al-Shabab to fight jihad as her husband believed he was doing when he bombed the tube.”
Despite having no record of terrorism in the UK, before the Kenyan attacks she was know to be on the run from Kenyan authorities after allegedly planning to bomb the country’s coast.
Samantha has been linked to the recent Kenyan attacks both by the media and by the Kenyan Minister, who has claimed one of the attackers was a British woman.
There has been no confirmation of her involvement and al-Shabab say there were no women involved in the attack.
Peter Taylor, who has just returned from Kenya, said: “If, as the foreign minister says, there was a British woman involved ‘who had done this many times before’, there is a strong possibility it may well be Samantha Lewthwaite.”
Where is she now?
Some believe that Samantha died in the Kenyan attack, if she was indeed involved.
A senior Kenyan anti-terror officer said yesterday: “We believe she was commanding the operation but her fate is not yet known. It is understood she was a sniper also.”
Peter Taylor said: “If she is dead then she would have achieved the kind of martyrdom that her husband Germaine Lindsay achieved.”
If she did not die in the attack, or was not involved at all, then it is likely she is still on the run, either in Kenya or in nearby Somalia. T
he whereabouts of her children are unknown.