Clashes Continue at Nairobi Mall As Most of Hostages Freed

Kenyan troops were fighting extremist militants at Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall Monday, as the gunmen threatened to kill hostages at least 68 people.

Kenyan troops were fighting extremist militants at Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall Monday, as the gunmen threatened to kill hostages. nairoubi mall

Heavy gunfire and three big explosions were heard at the mall as the stand-off entered its third day, with soldiers posted around the complex ducked for cover.

"We think the operation will come to an end soon," Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku told reporters camped outside.

Lenku said most hostages had been freed, without giving specific numbers.

Meanwhile, Kenyan police later on Monday announced they had arrested more than 10 suspects for questioning over an ongoing attack.

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.

A Kenyan security source and a Western intelligence official said Israeli forces were involved in the operation, along with British and US agents.

"Our concern is to rescue all hostages alive and that is why the operation is delicate," the Kenya Defense Forces said in a statement overnight, adding that it was trying to bring a "speedy conclusion" to the drama.

It did not say how many people were being held by the dozen-or-so attackers, who marched into the sprawling four-storey complex at midday Saturday, spraying shoppers with machine gun fire and tossing grenades.

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.