Clashes Continue at Nairobi Mall, Shebab Militants Threatens to Kill Hostages
Local Editor
Heavy gunfire and explosions have been heard from Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall as Kenya's security forces launch a ‘final assault' against Somali gunmen inside the complex.
Witnesses said that three loud explosions were heard at the mall during the early hours of Monday. The Monday explosions came after a continued outbreak of gunfire that lasted around 15 minutes.The Kenyan army said it had secured most of the upmarket, part "Israeli"-owned complex, while a security source said a final assault was underway against the al-Qaeda-linked Somali Shebab militants, believed to be pinned down in a part of the mall but using hostages as human shields.
Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) spokesman Cyrus Oguna said the "security forces have taken control of most parts of the building."
According to reports, the dead included three British nationals, two French women, two Canadian citizens - including a diplomat - a Chinese woman, two Indians, a Ghanaian poet, a South Korean, a South African and a Dutch woman.
Kenyan police warned that the death toll could rise "much higher."
"This will end tonight. Our forces will prevail. Kenyans are standing firm against aggression, and we will win," said Kenya's Disaster Operations Center in a message on its Twitter page.
For its part, Shebab movement threatened to kill the hostages with its spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage said: "We authorize 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," Rage added in a statement posted on an extremist website.
A Kenyan security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, has confirmed that "Israeli" troops were involved in the operation against the Somali gunmen.
The Red Cross said on Monday that the death toll since Saturday's initial lunchtime bloodbath stood at 69. But Interior Minister Lenku said that was wrong and that only 59 were dead.
Source: Websites
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