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NAIROBI. — Kenyan police yesterday said they had arrested more than 10 suspects for questioning over an ongoing attack on a Nairobi shopping mall where more than 60 people were massacred. “We’ve arrested more than 10 individuals for questioning in relation to the Westgate attack,” police said in a message on their Twitter account.
Kenyan security forces remained locked in a fierce battle with Somali Islamist gunmen inside the upmarket mall yesterday, where thick black smoke billowed out following huge explosions.
Kenya’s defence ministry said that “three terrorists have been killed so far”, while “a few others have suffered injuries.”
Operations continued but troops had “sealed all possible escape routes”, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the chances of any terrorists escaping were “very slim.”
A Kenyan security source and a Western intelligence official said Israeli forces were also involved in the operation, along with British and US agents.
Somalia’s Al Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents have claimed the attack, which began midday on Saturday, when the gunmen marched into the complex, firing grenades and automatic weapons and sending panicked shoppers fleeing.
Meanwhile Red Cross officials said yesterday the number of people killed in the bloody shopping mall siege was 62, seven lower than previously reported, due to “double counted bodies”.
Kenyan officials say their troops were in control of all floors in the complex, but were still fighting remaining insurgents.
It still remained unclear how many gunmen and hostages were still cornered in the Westgate shopping centre, two hours after a series of loud explosions and gunfire were followed by a plume of black smoke, that grew in volume from one part of the complex.
In a related development, the interior ministry said the fire in the mall had been contained, although plumes of smoke continued to dominate Nairobi’s skyline as night fell.
Kenya’s interior minister told a news conference that the militants — all men, though some wore women’s clothing during the assault — had set a fire with mattresses in a supermarket on the mall’s lower floors.
Two “terrorists” had been killed yesterday, he added.
Another assailant had died on Saturday.
The gunmen came from “all over the world”, Kenya’s military chief said, adding: “We are fighting global terrorism here.”
Security officials near the scene had said the blasts heard at lunchtime were caused by Kenyan forces blasting away in after President Uhuru Kenyatta had on Sunday dismissed a demand that he pull Kenyan forces out of neighbouring Somalia. — AFP/ Reuters.
Online Reporter