At least 59 people were killed and 175 others wounded, including foreigners, after Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen stormed an upscale mall in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, according to a government minister.
The minister also says 10 to 15 gunmen are still inside the shopping mall, where the hostage standoff has entered its second day.
AP journalists reported from the scene that gunfire was heard in the mall Sunday morning. They added that following the shooting two wounded Kenyan security forces were carried from the mall.
The operation to recover all the hostages and secure control of Nairobi's Westgate mall is still continuing, according to Kenyan security officials.
Kenya's National Disaster Operation Centre stated that gunmen are still holding an uncertain number of shoppers and staff hostage inside the mall.
"Operations are continuing...We will free all those inside and stop this, of course we cannot give details of the operations except to say that everything that can be done is being done," a security officer said, as quoted by AFP.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said the attack sought to intimidate and divide the nation, but stated that the "terrorists" will be defeated, according to Reuters. The president added that he lost "very close family members" in the mall shooting, Reuters reported.
"The despicable perpetrators of this cowardly act hoped to intimidate, divide and cause despondency amongst Kenyans," Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation. "We have overcome terrorist attacks before. We will defeat them again."
© AFP Photos / Hoss NjugunaAn injured Kenyan man talks on the phone upon his arrival at the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi, on September 21,2013 after masked attackers stormed a packed upmarket shopping mall, spraying gunfire and killing 30 people and wounding dozens more before holing themselves up in the complex
Comment: Kenyan false flag bomb plot aimed at tightening sanctions noose on Iran, Friday 6 July 2012