the next front in the war on terror? africa. it s monday, september 23, and this is now. a massive plume of black smoke is billowing from the west gate shopping mall. just over an hour ago, defense forces tweeted that they had dominated all floors of the west gate mall building and are now concentrating on clearing out the facility. the crisis lasted over 48 hours, leaving 68 dead and injured many including five americans. the mall was stormed on saturday afternoon wearing black clothing and ski masks.