Kenyan mall: Gunfire, blast at daybreak Tuesday
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) _ Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for a fourth day Tuesday in what they said was a final push to rescue the last few hostages in a siege that has left at least 62 people dead.
Despite Kenyan government assurances of success on Twitter, another explosion and more gunfire could be heard coming from the mall at around 6:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Associated Press reporters at the scene said.
Security forces carried a body out of the mall, which remained on fire, with flames and smoke visible. A Kenyan soldier wearing bomb disposal protective gear also exited the building.
While the government announced Sunday that ``most'' hostages had been released, a security expert with contacts inside the mall said at least 10 were still being held by a band of attackers described as ``a multinational collection from all over the world.''
Somalia's al-Qaida-linked rebel group, al-Shabab, which claimed responsibility for the attack, posted an audio message on a pro-militant website late Monday that they were still in control of the building.
``Despite botched attempts by the Jews and Christians to recapture the mall today, the mujahideen are still in control of the Westgate,'' al-Shabab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said in the message.
``The upper hand still remains theirs,'' he said.
