Has British 'White Widow' been killed in final assault on Kenyan shopping mall? Officials say body of white woman terrorist found at scene

• Samantha Lewthwaite, widow of 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, wanted by Kenyan police on a string of terror charges
• Westgate Shopping Centre on fire amid fears that terrorists have carried out suicide bomb attack
• Al Shabaab militants tweeted that they have 'executed two Britons point blank' inside bank vault
• Architect Ross Langdon, who had dual Australian and British nationality, is confirmed among the dead
• His Harvard-educated girlfriend Elif Yavuz was also killed. She was two weeks away from giving birth
• British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said six British nationals have died in the attack, and number could rise.
• Kenyan government says two militants have died in battle to retake the building
• Claims that five of the attackers are American and two are British
• Kenyan military official says terrorists are a 'multinational collection from all over the world'
• Kenyan official reveals he suspects the involvement of fugitive 7/7 'white widow' Samantha Lewthwaite
• Men, women and children slaughtered if they could not recite Koran or name Prophet Mohammed's mother
• Terrorists told French citizen 'they want to kill Kenyans and Americans'

A dead white woman has been found among Islamic terrorists killed by soldiers as they stormed the mall where 62 shoppers were slaughtered this weekend, Kenyan officials said.
The claim, made by three sources to news agency Reuters, will fuel speculation that the dead woman is Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, who is wanted by Kenyan police on a string of terror charges. Police will also investigate the possibility that she is a hostage dressed in one of the terrorist's clothes.
Asked if it was Lewthwaite, dubbed the 'White Widow', an intelligence officer said: 'We don't know.'
Moments after the news broke, Al Shabaab, the Al Qaeda affiliated terror group behind the massacre at Nairobi's Westgate Shopping Centre, used their Twitter feed to claim that Lewthwaite was safe.

A dead white woman has been found among Islamic terrorists killed by soldiers as they stormed the mall where 62 shoppers were slaughtered this weekend, Kenyan officials said. It will fuel speculation the dead woman is Samantha Lewthwaite (left and right), widow of 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay,  wanted on terror charges

Eleven soldiers from the Kenyan Defence Force (KDF) were also wounded in the fighting.
The official Kenyan police Twitter feed reported that more than 200 civilians had been rescued as troops took control of all the floors of the mall.

THE 'WHITE WIDOW' OF A COLD BLOODED KILLER

Samantha Lewthwaite converted to Islam as a young woman and married a man who went on to be a 7/7 London suicide bomber. She has become a key figure in the terror group behind this weekend’s attack.
Lewthwaite has even been involved in training a group of all-female suicide attackers at camps in lawless neighbouring the 29-year-old, who grew up as a normal teenager in Aylesbury before meeting Jermaine Lindsay, a British Muslim, in an online chat room when she was 17. The pair married three years later.
When her husband was named as one of four suicide bombers who blew up Tube trains and a bus in 2005, killing 52 people, Lewthwaite initially condemned her late husband’s attack and denied any knowledge of his plan. This was a lie.
More than eight years later, Lewthwaite is one of Al Qaeda’s main recruiters in East Africa and is an official spokesman for Al Shabaab (The People), the terrorist group behind the horror in Nairobi.
The so-called ‘White Widow’, who is the world’s most wanted woman, has been on the run in East Africa after police foiled a Christmas bomb plot against Western tourists in the coastal resort of Mombasa in 2011.

'Chances of any terrorists sneaking and escaping are very slim. KDF troops have sealed all possible escape routes,' it said.
'Fire started in the building by the terrorists to distract the ongoing operation is being managed by fire fighters from different agencies.'
The Kenyan authorities have said that 62 civilians have now been confirmed dead while 65 people were receiving treatment in hospital.
David Cameron is set to return to London to chair a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergencies committee. Earlier in the capital, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond chaired the meeting.
Downing Street said Mr Cameron - who has spoken to the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta - offered help in terms of 'policing, intelligence collaboration and other related kinds' of assistance.
The Foreign Office confirmed that six British nationals were now known to be among the dead - who also included foreigners from France, the Netherlands, South Africa, Ghana, the United States and Canada.
None of the Britons have been identified officially although one has been named in reports as Ross Langdon, who had dual nationality with Australia.
A spokesman said they were aware of the reports suggesting Samantha Lewthwaite was among those dead, and were 'studying them'.
The Kenyan authorities have now said all the militants were male, although some are said to have been dressed as women.
The start of the final assault was heralded by a series of loud blasts and a barrage of gunfire as a pall of thick black smoke began to rise over the mall.
The chief of the Kenyan defence forces, General Julius Karangi, said the Islamist militants who carried out the attack - thought to number around 10 to 15 - included fighters from various countries.
'We have an idea who these people are and they are clearly a multinational collection from all over the world,' he said.
Responsibility for the attack as been claimed by al-Shabab - an Islamist group based in neighbouring Somalia with links to al Qaida.
Kenyan troops have been taking part in an African Union force involved in helping the Somali government to wrest back control of the country from al-Shabab.

Police will also investigate the possibility that she is a hostage dressed in one of the terrorist's clothes. Asked if it was Lewthwaite, dubbed the 'White Widow', an intelligence officer said: 'We don't know'

Lewthwaite, 29, was married to Jermaine Lindsay, the suicide bomber who blew up a Tube train at King?s Cross in 2005

Paramedics run beside parked ambulances outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi after heavy shooting started for the third time since this morning

The Westgate Shopping Centre is on fire and a fierce gun battle is underway as Kenyan special forces try to end the three day siege that has killed at least 62 people

Witnesses have reported hearing rapid gun fire at the shopping mall and Kenyan soldiers have been seen moving towards Westgate

A paramedic runs for cover outside the mall in Nairobi after a large explosion was followed by sustained shooting

Security forces say they have evacuated almost all the hostages from the shopping centre, which was on fire earlier on Monday

Explosions and then black smoke rises from besieged mall

A Kenyan minister claimed the heavy black smoke billowing from the shopping mall on Monday was caused by burned mattresses

The area around the mall was teeming with Kenyan soldiers and armoured personnel carriers, as emergency workers and reporters were told to take cover

Kenyan police said they have rescued some hostages after storming the mall and said they are 'increasingly gaining advantage [over] the attackers'

Ross Langdon, 33, was killed alongside his heavily pregnant Dutch partner Elif Yavuz

Earlier, a Twitter account purporting to belong to an al-Shabab spokesman named a 24-year-old man from London as one of the gunmen.
The @hsm-press2 account listed a string of names it claimed were involved in the attack before being closed down, as previous usernames linked to the terrorist group had been.

Kenyan special forces claim they are on the way to resolving the crises.
Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said: 'We think the operation will come to an end soon', he said. 'We are in control of all the floors, the terrorists are running and hiding in some stores... there is no room for escape'.
At least 175 were injured, including children.
There are fears the death toll will rise as security forces search the upmarket shopping complex.
Briton Ross Langdon, 33,  confirmed as one of the dead, was an award-winning architect, who had dual nationality with Australia. He died alongside his heavily pregnant Dutch partner Elif Yavuz.
She was a Harvard-educated malaria specialist who worked for the Clinton Health Access Initiative and was just two weeks away from giving birth to her first child.
The identities of the rest of the dead Britons have not been released. A British man has told The Daily Telegraph that he had lost his wife and daughter and had identified their bodies from photographs shown to him by police.
Peruvian national Dr Juan Jesus Ortiz-Iruri, 63, who was due to start work at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine next month, was confirmed among the dead today.
Earlier , as Kenyan soldiers and more armoured personnel carriers descended on the mall, a spokesman for terror group Al Shabaab Ali Mohamud Rage said in a statement posted on an Islamist website that those held inside will 'bear the brunt of any force' used by soldiers against the militants.
The statement read: 'We authorise the mujahedeen inside the building to take actions against the prisoners as much as they are pressed.
'We are telling Christians advancing onto the mujahedeen to have mercy for their prisoners who will bear the brunt of any force directed against the mujahedeen.'
There were conflicting reports about the identity of the attackers. Al Shabaab claimed on Twitter last night that the group was being led by Samantha Lewthwaite, who was married to Jermaine Lindsay, one of the 7/7 suicide bombers.
Known as the White Widow, she is wanted by Kenyan police over links to a suspected terrorist cell planning bomb attacks.
A link between Lewthwaite and the Westgate attack was made after soldiers claimed they had seen a white woman in a veil shouting orders to gunman in Arabic.
Meanwhile, a Twitter account claiming to represent Al Shabaab yesterday claimed that terrorists from seven nations are involved in the attack, including the U.S., Britain and Canada.
The HSM Press Office account, which has been suspended twice, claimed the group were Ahmed Nasir Shirdoon, 24, from London, UK; Gen Mustafe Noorduiin, 27, from Kansas City, U.S., Abdifatah Osman Keenadiid, 24, from Minneapolis, U.S., and Ahmed Mohamad Isse, 22, from Saint Paul, U.S; Ismael Guled, 23, from Finland; Abdirizak Mouled, 24, from Ontario, Canada; and Zaki Jama Caraale, 20, and Sayid Nuh, 25, both from Somalia.
Meanwhile, a Twitter account claiming to represent Al Shabaab yesterday claimed that terrorists from seven nations are involved in the attack, including the U.S., Britain and Canada.
The HSM Press Office account, which has been suspended twice, claimed the group were Ahmed Nasir Shirdoon, 24, from London, UK; Gen Mustafe Noorduiin, 27, from Kansas City, U.S., Abdifatah Osman Keenadiid, 24, from Minneapolis, U.S., and Ahmed Mohamad Isse, 22, from Saint Paul, U.S; Ismael Guled, 23, from Finland; Abdirizak Mouled, 24, from Ontario, Canada; and Zaki Jama Caraale, 20, and Sayid Nuh, 25, both from Somalia.
A top Kenyan military official said he believes the attackers are 'a multinational collection from all over the world.'

Police officers take cover following a string of explosions and fierce gun fire on Monday - the third day of the siege

Militants inside Westgate Shopping Centre have threatened to kill the remaining hostages as Kenyan security personnel try to end the siege (pictured)

Kenya Security personnel take cover outside the Westgate Mall. Islamist terror group Al Shabaab claimed it carried out the atrocity in which four Britons were killed and 175 people were left injured

Kenyan military said last night that 'most' of the hostages have been freed but a spokesman admitted today that the situation is still not clear

Militants inside the shopping centre said hostages would 'bear the brunt' of any action by the Kenyan military

Terror link: Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, originally from Buckinghamshire, was described as a 'brave lady' by Islamist terror group Al Shabaab

General Julius Karangi said fighters from an array of nations participated in the attack claimed by Al Shabaab, a Somali group allies with al-Qaida.
We have an idea who they are, their nationality and even the number.  We are fighting global terrorism here and we have sufficient intel (intelligence) to suggest that.'
As the stand-off entered its third day, sustained bursts of rapid gunfire erupted at dawn and lasted 15 minutes, and soldiers posted around the complex ducked for cover.
This was followed by three big explosions, AFP correspondents at the scene said.
A Kenyan special forces officer said troops had moved in to end the siege with force.
'I saw them only once, I could not see them much," he said. 'It was hide-and-seek, hide-and-seek, hide-and-seek. In the end we had to use full force, we had to finish with these guys.'
Al Shabaab have not said how many people were being held by the dozen-or-so attackers, who marched into the Israeli-owned four-storey complex at midday Saturday, spraying shoppers with machine gunfire and tossing grenades.
One security officer said within half-an-hour of the attack the mall had been turned into 'an abattoir' as gunmen wearing Islamic scarves but Western clothes went on the rampage.
Police chief David Kimaiyo said today that some hostages have been freed. However, a group claiming to represent the Al Shabaab terrorists said they are still fighting inside the building. 
In a message on Twitter Mr Kimaiyo wrote: 'Thumbs up to our multi-agency team, we have just managed to rescue some hostages. We're increasingly gaining advantage of the attackers.

'WE ONLY WANT TO KILL KENYANS AND AMERICANS': EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE OF FRENCH FAMILY

A French woman said she was freed by the Islamic terrorists because they told her they only wanted to kill Kenyans and Americans.
The woman, who only gave her name as Pauline, said she escaped with her two young children, who were given Mars bars by the gunmen.
Pauline said she was asked for forgiveness by the terrorists who told her 'we are not monsters'.
The mother of two, who was in the supermarket when the attack began, said once she agreed Muslims were not 'bad people' they gave her children, Emily, 6, and Eliot, 4, chocolate.
She told The Independent: 'He said we only only want to kill Kenyans and Americans. He then told me I had to change my religion to Islam and said "do you forgive us? do you forgive us?'
She said she was able to escape with another two children, including a wounded 12-year-old boy whose mother had been murdered.

Terrified children wait by the body of a man after escaping from the shopping centre. Militants have today threatened to kill the remaining hostages

Fleeing: A child runs to safety across the shopping mall following the deadly attack in Nairobi, Kenya. Four Britons have been killed in the attack

Terror: Armed police guide a woman carrying a child to safety at Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi

Desperation: A crowd of people hold their arms out to catch a Kenyan woman as she jumps out from the air vent where she had been hiding from the gunmen

Moving quickly: An image grab taken from AFP TV shows civilians taking cover following an attack by masked gunmen in a shopping mall in Nairobi