Kenya forces storm Westgate centre
23 September 2013 Last updated at 15:04 GMT
Nairobi Westgate attack: Assault begins to break siege
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Karen Allen in Nairobi: "Kenya will never be the same again"
Kenyan
security forces have launched an assault on the Westgate shopping
complex in the capital Nairobi in an attempt to break the two-day siege.
Sporadic gunfire is continuing at the mall, where suspected al-Shabab militants remain holed up.The Kenya Defence Forces said three "terrorists" had been killed and all escape routes sealed off, with troops now focusing on clearing the building.
The official death toll now stands at 62 and more than 170 have been injured.
The Somali Islamist al-Shabab movement has said it carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenyan military operations in Somalia.
There were earlier reports of sustained gunfire and dozens of Kenyan troops were seen crossing the road into the Westgate centre.
However, the firing has since subsided.
Police have been using tear gas to disperse crowds of onlookers gathered close to the Westgate Centre.
The Interior Ministry said in a tweet: "We are pleading with you, #WestGateMall is a scene of crime. For your own safety keep off that area. Roads leading there have been cordoned."
Security has been stepped up at entrance and exit points across the country, with arrests made at an unspecified airport, the ministry said.
'Gaining advantage' The earlier round of gunfire and explosions appeared to be a dramatic turn of events in the security forces' operation, the BBC's Mike Wooldridge reported from Nairobi.
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Confirmed victims
- Ruhila Adatia-Sood, Kenyan radio host
- Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor, 78
- President Uhuru Kenyatta's nephew, Mbugua Mwangi and fiancee Rosemary Wahito
- Mitul Shah, sales director for Bidco
- Kenyan Nehal Vekaria, 16
- Canadian diplomat Annemarie Desloges, 29
- South Korean Kang Moon-hee
- Two French nationals
- One Australian
- Four Britons
- Chinese woman, aged 38
- A second Canadian national
- One Dutch woman, aged 33
- One South African national
- Two Indian nationals
- One Peruvian
Television pictures showed troops running towards the complex. About 10 attackers were thought to be inside.
"We're increasingly gaining advantage of the attackers," inspector general of Kenyan police David Kimaiyo said in a tweet.It is not clear as yet what caused the blasts, or what impact they are having on the operation to rescue hostages held by the militants, our correspondent reports.
"I work 400m away and I can see heavy black smoke," local resident Eric Onchangu told the BBC earlier.
"I can see a helicopter and we know there are lots of KDF [security forces] in the area - we have been warned to stay indoors as it's so dangerous," he added.
By Sunday night, Kenyan security forces said they had secured most of the shopping centre and that only a small number of hostages remained under the militants' control.
Thick black smoke started billowing from the building shortly after blasts were heard
The Kenyan interior minister said security forces were gaining an advantage over the militants
Earlier, police took cover during periods of heavy gunfire
Volunteer paramedics were also sent running when gunfire was heard
Dr Sunil Sachdeva, a dentist who runs a clinic inside the mall, described the scene as the attack unfolded.
"There was a tent where a cookery competition for children was carrying on and there were bodies lying under there," he told the BBC.
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Al-Shabab militia
- Name means "The Youth" in Arabic
- Controls large areas of Somalia
- Formed as a radical offshoot of the Union of Islamic Courts in 2006
- Include foreign jihadists
- Has launched cross-border raids into Kenya, Uganda
- Estimated to have 7,000 to 9,000 fighters
- Announced merger with al-Qaeda in 2012
"There's a very famous radio
presenter in Kenya, she was shot. The scene was carnage and there was a
guy lying right in the corner. He was cut to shreds."
Prominent Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor - who was attending a literary festival in Nairobi - also died, as did a Chinese woman.French, Dutch, South African, Indian and Canadian nationals are also among the foreigners confirmed killed, along with a dual Australian-British national.
Thousands of Kenyans have been responding to appeals for blood donations.
Al-Shabab says it carried out the attack in response to Kenyan military operations in Somalia.
The group, which is part of the al-Qaeda network, has repeatedly threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of Somalia.
There are about 4,000 Kenyan troops in the south of Somalia, where they have been fighting the militants since 2011 as part of an African Union force supporting Somali government forces.
Al-Shabab is fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia.
Despite being pushed out of key cities in the past two years, it still remains in control of smaller towns and large swathes of the countryside.
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