Do you remember the SAS commando who stormed the besieged hotel in Kenya?
He was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross — second only to a Victoria Cross — for valor in combat.
On January 21, four gunmen stormed the DusitD2 hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya. Immediately, Kenyan Special Forces were dispatched to the scene including an SAS operator who was there as a supervisor. During the 19-hour siege, 21 men were killed including British charity worker Luke Potter.
According to a report in Special Ops Magazine, the death toll could’ve been higher if the unnamed SAS operator didn’t kill two of the four gunmen, leading to the evacuation of 700 locals. He reportedly stormed into battle after US Navy SEALs requested his help.
The “long-serving” member of the SAS – motto Who Dares Wins – was on a mission to train and mentor Kenyan Special Forces when four terrorists attacked a hotel complex.
The Sun exclusively revealed his daring involvement in the security operation, also publishing footage purportedly showing him carrying a gunshot victim to safety.
Last month, the operator who has served 18 years in SAS, received a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. Only around 60 such medals have been awarded — for “acts of conspicuous gallantry during active operations against the enemy.”
A senior insider said: “This is an incredible honor and truly deserved. What this man did will go down in the history of the SAS. Yet it nearly didn’t happen after a row on the ground.”
As the body count rose a US Navy SEAL team sought out the SAS operator. Within minutes of being cleared to pounce he shot dead the first terrorist from behind a wall.
The insider added: “When it all kicked off he was working with the Kenyan Armed Forces. They were being mentored by SEALs and they had jurisdiction. But there was a critical pause among the US Navy SEALs as they waited for the green light to go in. They knew the score.
“People were dying, and they knew they had a man in their midst who could turn the tide. He had to go in. He got on the blower to the UK High Commissioner who gave the go-ahead and he went straight in. No hesitation, no flinching, no thought for his own safety, straight into the eye of the storm.
“Within minutes he’d dropped the first terrorist. It turned the tide, there was a surge of confidence through the mission.”
The SAS operator shot dead a second gunman before Kenyan security forces cornered the other two in the sprawling complex. After a stand-off stretched into the night the remaining duo was killed, ending the siege, the Sun reported.
As well as hunting down the gunmen, the SAS operator was pictured saving innocents fleeing the terror.
“UK Special Forces always run towards the sound of gunfire,” said one insider. “He was there training and mentoring Kenyan forces when the shout went up, so they went in. During the operation he fired off some rounds – it’s a safe bet he hit his target – the SAS don’t miss. He is a long-serving member of the Regiment, there is no doubt his actions saved lives.”