On 21 September 2013, militants attacked the Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, shooting and throwing grenades at fleeing shoppers. The militants, in apparent retribution for the Kenyan military deployment in Somalia, took hostages, whom they held during an 80-hour siege.  A total of 67 people, including four of the militants, were killed during the attack, and 175 people were reportedly wounded. The incident was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya since the 1998 US Embassy bombings.

In October 2013, ICMP deployed a team to provide on-site assistance to the Kenyan authorities and INTERPOL in identifying victims of the incident.