A Somalia-based affiliate of the al-Qaeda terror network responsible for the bloody attack in Kenya, say Somali Muslims from the United States were among the gunmen who killed at least 68 people in Nairobi’s Westgate Mall.

In messages sent via Twitter, the Islamic militant group al-Shabaab named five young Americans, a Canadian and a British man among the terrorists who perpetrated the Westgate massacre. Two of the men — Ahmed Mohamed Isse, 22, and Abdifatah Osman Keenadiid, 24 — were reportedly from Minnesota; Mustafe Noorudiin. 27, is reportedly from Kansas City; Shafie Die 25, is reportedly from Tucson, Arizona; Dagestan Abdelkarem Ali Mohamed, 21, is reportedly from Illinois; Abdirizak Mouled, 24, is reportedly from Ontario, Canada; and Qasim Said Musa, 22, is reportedly from London, England. Confirmation of the identities were not possible early Monday, as Kenyan security forces continued their battle to rescue the remaining hostages held by the terrorists.

Last month, the Somali al-Qaeda group released a recruitment video, “The Path to Paradise: From the Twin Cities to the Land of Two Migrations,” featuring three Minneapolis men who joined al-Shabaab and traveled to Somalia.

A British official told Andrew Malone of the London Daily Mail that a British woman known as the “White Widow” was suspected to be among the terrorists involved in the Kenya attack. Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, converted to Islam and married a Muslim man, Jermaine Lindsay, she met through an online chat room when she was 17. Lindsay killed himself in a suicide bombing that was one of the so-called “7/7″ attacks on July 7, 2005, that killed 52 people in bombings on subways and buses in London.

Britain’s ‘White Widow,’ Samantha Lewthwaite converted to Islam.

In 2007, Lewthwaite moved to Kenya with her three children and has since reportedly become a leader in the al-Qaeda terrorist network, acting as a recruiter and as an official spokeswoman for al-Shabaab. Russell Myers reported Sunday in the London Mirror:

[Kenyan] State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu confirmed reports of a white woman among the terror gang. A Kenyan police source said: “Samantha Lewthwaite is target number one.” . . .
A senior source said: “There is a strong possibility that Samantha Lewthwaite could be one of the terrorists. We have reports that at least one, possibly two women were involved in this siege.”
He added: “There are strong indications Lewthwaite has the capability and influence within al-Shabaab to carry out such an atrocity.”

READ MORE:

• Bridget Johnson, PJ Media: Al-Shabaab: Three Americans Among Gunmen in Kenya Mall
• Nicholas Kulish, New York Times: Kenya Presses Assault Against Militants in Mall Siege
• Israel Matzav: Kenyan jihadis include 5 Americans, a Canadian and a Brit
• Peter Bergen, CNN: How Al-Shabaab picks its targets
• Daniel Greenfield, FrontPage Magazine: America’s “Little Mogadishus” Produced 3 of the Kenya Al Qaeda Terrorists
• Andrew Malone, London Daily Mail: Why the White Widow is prime suspect: Kenyan anti-terror police believe British woman, 29, may be behind mall massacre