An Australian woman was one of the 68 people killed when Islamist militants stormed a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya.  At least two more Aussie women escaped with their lives.  Israeli “security advisors” have since joined Kenyan forces to help put an end to the siege, now in its third day.

More explosions and gunfire were heard in Nairobi’s upscale Westgate Mall, where at least 68 people were killed and 175 wounded by al Shabab Islamists who had crossed over from Somalia to avenge Kenya’s involved in that civil war.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed a dual Australian-UK national is among the dead.  Australian lawyer Heidi Edwards says she escaped the carnage by fleeing through a service exit.  Melbournian Sarah Williamson reportedly survived for six hours huddled in a phone before being rescued.

Although the militants are with Somalia’s al Shabab, the al Qaeda-linked group has in the past successfully recruited its terrorists from around the world:  Three of the alleged mall attackers are from the United States, two are from Somalia and there is one each from Canada, Finland, Kenya, and the United Kingdom, according to a list that had been briefly posted to the internet.  The American FBI is investigating the claims.