On Sept. 22, gunmen infiltrated an upscale mall in Nairobi, thecapital of Kenya, in an alleged organized terrorist attack onunsuspecting shoppers, some of whom were families attending achildren's event. The attack claimed the lives of more than 60adults and children.

Eyewitnesses reported that the criminals targeted non-Muslimsand Westerners. Extremist group Al-Shabaab, which says it is tryingto establish an Islamic Somali state, has claimed responsibilityfor the carnage as retaliation against Kenya's military presence insouthern Somalia.

The Israeli-owned Westgate Mall, which was located in theaffluent Westlands neighborhood and frequented by Western residentsand wealthy locals, housed about 80 stores including famous namessuch as Nike and Bose.

Stores inside the mall were destroyed and looted, and a parkinggarage was bombed. The Association of Kenya Insurers toldnewspapers that the insurance damage from the attack could cost up to $115 million (or 10 billion KenyanShillings).

According to African news sources, Westgate was insured by areal-estate investment firm in the Lloyd's market through a $75.9million deal syndicated by UK investment group Chaucer SyndicateLimited. The policy included cover for political attacks andterrorist acts.

Click “next” to read more and see images of the Westgate Mallpost-attack.

Photos provided by AP Photos.

Above, the remains of the cash registers in the Nakumattsupermarket in the Westgate Mall on Oct. 1 are seen scorched andhardly recognizable.

Police and military personnel surrounded the mall on foot and byhelicopter in a standoff with the terrorists that spanned fourdays. Although it is yet unclear what happened to the criminals ortheir hostages, the mall's scorched remains tell that the worst isover.

A view of the inside of the Westgate Mall shows kiosks lootedand destroyed. Police say that the attack was planned andrehearsed, and the building's layout carefully studied far inadvance. Weapons were hidden inside the mall, probably with thehelp of insider employees, and the terrorists may have passedthrough Kenya's borders with the help of corrupt or inattentiveborder guards.

People clean up the mess at damaged shops next to the mainentrance of the Westgate Mall on Oct. 1.

Many U.S.-based stores such as Converse (pictured above) wereaffected by the attack. According to Corina Muller Monaghan, headof North America, Crisis Management for Towers Watson, terrorismcoverage is something companies need to research well whenexpanding globally.

“If I were a company investing $200 million in Africa, I wouldgain a good understanding of the specific country's landscape byengaging consultants with a deep knowledge of the geography and anextensive counterterrorism background,” says Monaghan.

Forensics investigators work next to the collapsed upper carpark at the Westgate Mall. The upper level was the site of achildren's cooking demonstration that was taking place when theattack began.

This photo released by the Kenya Presidency shows the collapsedupper car park on Sept. 26. Working near bodies crushed by rubblein a bullet-scarred, scorched mall, FBI agents continuedfingerprint, DNA and ballistic analysis to help determine theidentities and nationalities of victims.

An armed policeman walks past the shattered glass windows of ashop in the Westgate Mall.

In a country like Kenya that has seen terrorism and politicalviolence before—such as the recent with violence that broke out in2007-2008 after the alleged fixed election of Mwai Kibaki—Monaghanrecommends businesses expanding into Africa look into politicalviolence coverage.

“Terrorism insurance is very specific, while political violencepolicies are broader and include defined perils such as maliciousdamage, terrorism, sabotage, riots, strikes, civil commotion,insurrection, revolution, rebellion, coup d'état/ mutiny war andcivil war,” says Monaghan.