Kenyan security forces remained locked Monday in a battle with al-Qaeda-linked militants at a Nairobi shopping mall where gunmen are holding hostages three days after launching their assault.
The Kenya Red Cross said 69 locals and foreigners have been killed and at least 175 injured in the attack claimed by Somali Islamist militia al-Shabaab which targeted non-Muslims.
Soldiers, police officers and special units, including snipers, are positioned around the four-storey building, backed up by helicopters overhead.
"We have managed to rescue more hostages overnight and very few are remaining. We are also closing in on the attackers," police Inspector General David Kimaiyo said on Twitter.
The Red Cross said 63 people were still officially listed as missing.
The governments of Canada, France, Britain, South Africa, the Netherlands and the United States said some of their citizens had been killed or injured in the massacre.
Some 10 to 15 attackers from al-Shabaab were cornered in one part of the building with the hostages when security forces launched, to the sound of heavy explosions, what they described as a "major assault" late Sunday.
Security forces are believed to be sharing information with foreign security agencies, as they try to find a way to free the remaining hostages.
British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his annual visit to Queen Elizabeth II at her home in Balmoral, Scotland to chair a meeting of the emergency committee Cobra to help with the crisis in Nairobi.
The mall, a popular shopping spot for expatriates and locals, has been cordoned off and security has been beefed up across Nairobi.
It is the worst terrorist attack in Kenya since a bomb attack on the US embassy 15 years ago.
Kenyan medics have been calling for blood donations, with a steady stream of volunteers lining up to give at various locations in the capital and elsewhere in the East African nation.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, citing Kenya's military presence in southern Somalia.
The government sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight an insurgency and prevent cross-border raids, following a spate of kidnappings by al-Shabaab on Kenyan soil.
The mall lies in Westlands, a wealthy Nairobi neighbourhood where United Nations workers and diplomats reside and often frequent the mall on weekends.
In The Hague, Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto was given permission by the International Criminal Court to return home for one week to help deal with crisis.
The crimes against humanity trial will proceed in Ruto's absence, it said.
Ruto is charged with orchestrating murder and the forcible displacement of people on ethnic grounds following the disputed 2007 election in Kenya.
Kenyan forces "closing in" on Nairobi mall attackers
Kenyan security forces remained locked Monday in a battle with al-Qaeda-linked militants at a Nairobi shopping mall where gunmen are holding hostages three days after launching their assault.
The Kenya Red Cross said 69 locals and foreigners have been killed and at least 175 injured in the attack claimed by Somali Islamist militia al-Shabaab which targeted non-Muslims.
Soldiers, police officers and special units, including snipers, are positioned around the four-storey building, backed up by helicopters overhead.
"We have managed to rescue more hostages overnight and very few are remaining. We are also closing in on the attackers," police Inspector General David Kimaiyo said on Twitter.
The Red Cross said 63 people were still officially listed as missing.
The governments of Canada, France, Britain, South Africa, the Netherlands and the United States said some of their citizens had been killed or injured in the massacre.
Some 10 to 15 attackers from al-Shabaab were cornered in one part of the building with the hostages when security forces launched, to the sound of heavy explosions, what they described as a "major assault" late Sunday.
Security forces are believed to be sharing information with foreign security agencies, as they try to find a way to free the remaining hostages.
British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his annual visit to Queen Elizabeth II at her home in Balmoral, Scotland to chair a meeting of the emergency committee Cobra to help with the crisis in Nairobi.
The mall, a popular shopping spot for expatriates and locals, has been cordoned off and security has been beefed up across Nairobi.
It is the worst terrorist attack in Kenya since a bomb attack on the US embassy 15 years ago.
Kenyan medics have been calling for blood donations, with a steady stream of volunteers lining up to give at various locations in the capital and elsewhere in the East African nation.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, citing Kenya's military presence in southern Somalia.
The government sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight an insurgency and prevent cross-border raids, following a spate of kidnappings by al-Shabaab on Kenyan soil.
The mall lies in Westlands, a wealthy Nairobi neighbourhood where United Nations workers and diplomats reside and often frequent the mall on weekends.
In The Hague, Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto was given permission by the International Criminal Court to return home for one week to help deal with crisis.
The crimes against humanity trial will proceed in Ruto's absence, it said.
Ruto is charged with orchestrating murder and the forcible displacement of people on ethnic grounds following the disputed 2007 election in Kenya.
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