A large explosion today rocked the upmarket Kenyan mall where Islamic extremists are holding hostages a day after attacking it and killing 59 people.
Journalists at the Westgate shopping centre said this afternoon's explosion - followed by silence - was by far the largest in the 30-hour siege.
An estimated 10 to 15 militant attackers were tonight in the shopping mall holding an unknown number of captives, said Kenyan officials.
Three Britons were today confirmed dead. The Kenyan military has gone into the four-storey mall and there have been sporadic gun battles.
Kenyan troops were seen carrying in at least two rocket-propelled grenades - and earlier, military helicopters hovered over the mall.
Rescue mission: An image from AFP TV shows military forces taking position inside the shopping mall
Armed response: Kenyan troops with machine guns take up position in the mall
Tense: Soldiers from the Kenya Defense Forces walk out of the mall, following the sound of explosions and gunfire
Lock-down: Kenya security personnel walk to their positions outside the shopping mall as the siege continues
Security officials were unable to say how many people were being held captive by the terrorists.Kenya's Red Cross said in a statement citing police that 49 people had been reported missing.
Officials did not make an explicit link but that number could form the basis of the number of people held captive.
Somalia's al-Qaida-linked rebel group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack in which they used grenades and assault rifles and specifically targeted non-Muslims. The attackers included some women.
The Islamic extremist rebels said the attack was retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighboring Somalia.
Al-Shabab said on its new Twitter feed - after its previous one was shut down on Saturday - that Kenyan officials were asking the hostage-takers to negotiate and offering incentives.
‘We'll not negotiate with the Kenyan govt as long as its forces are invading our country, so reap the bitter fruits of your harvest,’ al-Shabab said in a tweet.
Distressing: A woman holds a baby sitting with
other injured people who are crying for help after gunmen went on a
shooting spree in the Westgate shopping centre
Response: Soldiers take positions outside the
shopping centre in Nairobi. Dozens of people have been killed after
masked gunmen stormed the mall and held shoppers
Shock: A soldier directs people up stairs inside
the Westgate shopping mall after a shootout in Nairobi, Kenya. Gunmen
had fired automatic weapons and grenades
Hunting down the terrorists: Soldiers from the
Kenya Defence Forces arrive at the Westgate Shopping Centre in the
capital Nairobi
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta reiterated his government's determination to continue fighting al-Shabab.‘We went as a nation into Somalia to help stabilise the country and most importantly to fight terror that had been unleashed on Kenya and the world,’ said Mr Kenyatta. ‘We shall not relent on the war on terror.’
He said although this violent attack had succeeded, the Kenyan security forces had ‘neutralised’ many others.
Earlier in the day, Mr Kenyatta said he his nephew and his nephew's fiancee were killed in the attack.
Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told reporters at the mall that a number of people were being held hostage on the third floor and the basement area of the mall, which includes stores for Nike, Adidas and Bose.
Kenyan security officials sought to reassure the families of hostages inside but implied that hostages could be killed.
Ordeal: People come out from hiding under a car next to bodies in a car park as police search for the armed radicals
The security operation is ‘delicate’ because Kenyan forces hoped to ensure the hostages are evacuated safely, said Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku.
‘The priority is to save as many lives as possible,’ Mr Lenku said, adding that more than 1,000 people escaped the attack inside the mall on Saturday.
‘We have received a lot of messages from friendly countries, but for now it remains our operation,’ Mr Lenku said.
More than 175 people were injured in the attack, Mr Lenku said, including many children. Kenyan forces were in control of the mall's security cameras, he said.
This afternoon brief volleys of gunfire were heard and Kenyan TV reporters said they had been told by officials that they could soon be asked to move further back from the mall.
Siege: People look at the Westgate shopping mall in the distance where hostages are being held for the second day
Escape: This family, who had been trapped inside the shopping centre, support each other as they escape from the scene
An Associated Press reporter, positioned just 330 yards from Westgate, tweeted that a huge blast went off inside it.
Jason Straziuso said: 'I'm 300 meters from mall when blast went off. Eery silence afterward. One short gunfire burst.
'That last big blast far larger than any explosion I'm last 30 hours. No idea what caused it.'
Prime Minister David Cameron said: 'It is an absolutely sickening and despicable attack of appalling brutality.'
As the massacre unfolded witnesses described terrifying scenes in which men, women and children of all ages and nationalities were brutally cut down.
The mall, a popular haunt for rich Kenyans and expats, was dotted with bodies lying in pools of blood. Some victims were shot dead as they sat in their cars, while others have been left with horrific injuries.
Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta has pledged to hunt down and punish the terrorists behind the brutal attack in upmarket Nairobi, in which a further 150 people were injured.
Horror: Shoppers hurry down an escalator with their hands in the air as they make their way out of the shopping centre to safety
Army: Soldiers were drafted in to help police
tackle the gunmen, who are now known to be terrorists from the Somali
al-Shabaab organisation, which has links to al-Qaeda
Shootout: Soldiers and armed police fire at the suspected terrorists as they try to wrest back control of the shopping centre
In a national televised address he
said that his nephew and his nephew's fiancée, who he 'knew and loved',
were both killed by the radicals.Somali-based militant group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the outrage at the mall in the affluent Westlands district of the capital.
A foreign office spokesperson said that three British nationals are confirmed dead and that the next of kin of those nationals have been informed.
The Government’s crisis committee (COBR), chaired by Foreign Secretary William Hague, met earlier today to discuss the incident.
The Labour Party conference in Brighton paused for a minute's silence as news of the deaths filtered through, with Ed Miliband among those reflecting on the tragedy.
He said: 'This is an appalling attack which has left three British citizens and many others dead. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the others caught up in this dreadful atrocity. Those who carried out this attack will be condemned across the globe. The cold-blooded killing of innocent women, children and men is as despicable as it is shocking.'
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
Emergency: A Red Cross assistant helps a child outside who was among those caught in the shooting
Killings: At least 59 people are believed to be dead, although police have not confirmed a death toll
Desperation: An injured woman, whose face and
clothes are drenched in blood, lies on the ground outside the shopping
mall screaming for help
Escape: Women carrying children run for safety
after al Shabaab terrorists stormed Westgate shopping center in Nairobi,
Kenya armed with guns and grenades
Spree: Shots are still being heard in the mall as police and terrorists engage in a stand-off
Mr Cameron told the BBC:
'Our thoughts are also with the Kenyan government and people at this
time. These appalling attacks that take place, where the perpetrators do
it in the name of a religion.. they don't. They do it in the name of
terror, violence, extremism and their warped view of the world. They
don't represent Islam or Muslims in Britain or anywhere else in the
world.'We've offered the Kenyans help in terms of policing and advice and intelligence collaboration.'
Two Canadians, including diplomat Annemarie Desloges, and two French women have been confirmed as being among the dead, along with renowned Ghanaian poet and statesman Kofi Awoonor.
The US State Department also said four American citizens were reported injured.
In his address today Mr Kenyatta said: 'I want every bereaved family to know that I and indeed all of us mourn with them. No-one should lose their life so needlessly, so senselessly. They shall not get away with their despicable and beastly acts. We will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully.
Hands up: Hostages of all nationalities head for the exit with their arms raised to show they are not carrying any weapons
Location: The attack took place in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya
Tragic: Annemarie Desloges, a Canadian diplomat seen here with her husband Robert Munk, was killed in the atrocity
'We need to work together to fight the terrorist battle not just here in Kenya. This is not a Kenyan war, this is an international war and we need to join hands and work together to see it effectively destroyed.'
Jonathan Maungo, a private security guard, told Reuters: 'They entered through blood, that's how they'll leave.'
It's understood that security officials are probing the possible involvement of the fugitive ‘white widow’ of 7/7 London bomber Germaine Lindsay, Samantha Lewthwaite - a key Al Shabaab bomb-maker and fundraiser.
The BBC's Anne Soy said: 'This is an upmarket shopping mall - it's one of the more exclusive ones in Nairobi. It often attracts foreigners and wealthy Kenyans, many of them of Indian descent. This is a situation which is cutting across race, tribes and nationalities.'
Terrified shoppers told of how they huddled in back hallways and prayed they would not be found by the militants.
When the way appeared clear, crying mothers clutching small children and blood-splattered men sprinted out of the four-storey mall.
At one burger restaurant, a man and woman lay in a final embrace after they had been killed, before their bodies were removed. Pop music was left playing.
Members of the Indian community pay their
respects at the cremation ceremony of Nehal Vekaria, a 16-year-old
female student who was killed during the shooting spree
Helping the injured: Bags of blood are seen on a
table after Kenyans come in large numbers to donate blood for the
victims of the attack
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