September 9

On September 21, 2013, armed attackers entered the upscale Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi’s Westlands district. Over the next three days the incident became a siege: survivors hid or fled amid gunfire and explosions, Kenyan security forces mounted clearance operations, and the Islamist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. Official tallies later placed the death toll at 67 with roughly 175 injured. The attack reshaped Kenyan security practices, public life in Nairobi, and how cities prepare for strikes on soft targets.

From 27 September to early November 2020, fighting erupted across Nagorno‑Karabakh and several surrounding Azerbaijani districts. The 44‑day war combined artillery, armored assaults and a new generation of drone warfare. It ended with a Russian‑brokered ceasefire signed on 9 November 2020 and coming into effect on 10 November 2020 (Moscow time), major territorial shifts in Azerbaijan’s favor, the deployment of Russian peacekeepers, and a humanitarian toll that left thousands dead, dozens of towns damaged, and tens of thousands displaced.

A shallow, moderate‑to‑strong earthquake of about magnitude 6.9 struck the Sikkim Himalaya on September 18, 2011, tearing slopes loose, severing roads and cutting into the lives of mountain communities. The shaking itself was brief; the landslides and isolation that followed shaped the human cost and the lessons learned.