'All Muslims leave... we only want to kill non-Muslims': Gunmen massacre at least 22 in Kenyan shopping mall after releasing anyone who could prove they were Islamic by reciting a prayer
- Security guards wheel out bodies in shopping trolleys from Westlands Shopping Centre
- Hostages are being held by at least five attackers still in building
- The army and special forces are helping police flush out the gunmen
- Upmarket mall is a favourite shopping spot for expats and wealthy Kenyans
- Police opened fire after gunmen launched attack at midday today
- Armed gang believed to have been terrorists, police say
- Kenya Red Cross says at least 22 dead though police not given exact toll
- Witness says attackers told shoppers non-Muslims were the targets
- Somali militant group al-Shabaab threatened to attack mall but no one yet claimed responsibility
At least 22 people are reported to be dead and more than 50 injured as a gun fight continues between police and armed men at a shopping centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
One witness claimed gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave and that only non-Muslims would be targeted when they opened fire at the upmarket mall of the Westlands district around midday today.
At least two dozen people, wounded and dead, were wheeled out on stretchers and in shopping trolleys by security guards, while others were seen walking out of the building, clutching bloodied clothing around their injuries.
Locals and tourists who were out shopping on the sunny Saturday in Kenya ran screaming from the building and cars were left abandoned as attackers threw grenades and fired AK47s.
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Victims: Dead bodies removed from the scene lay covered up outside in a car park
Help: A man carries a boy away from the scene of the carnage earlier today
Special forces: The army and elite squads have now been drafted in to help police flush out the gunmen
Escape: Women carrying children run for safety as armed police hunt gunmen who went on a shooting spree in Westgate shopping centre
Release: Hostages move out in a line after being rescued from the mall
Scramble: People rush for safety away from gunfire between police and armed attackers
Spree: Shots are still being heard in the mall as police and terrorists engage in a stand-off
Rescuers: A security worker takes a child to safety, left, while, right, paramedics help an injured victim
Over the course of an hour people streamed from the building, at least half a dozen covered in blood and clutching small children to them.
The Kenya Red Cross Society now says that 22 have been reported dead and at least 50 wounded.
At least nine people were carried out of the building bleeding from wounds to their limbs and two others were wheeled unconscious from the scene in shopping trolleys.
A young boy is believed to have been among those killed.
At a news conference, Internal Security Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo said 'terrorists and threats have been present in Kenya for quite some time now'.
The army, including special forces, have now been drafted in to help police flush out the gunmen.
Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbas Guled said: 'The casualties are many, and that's only what we have on the outside. Inside there are even more casualties and shooting is still going on.'
There were unconfirmed reports of two large explosions, with several smaller explosions. Two people were reportedly injured on the road.
'We have officers at the scene trying to get out the group shooting inside. They have not been located,' a senior police official said.
'Officers are approaching the situation with caution because there are innocent civilians inside,' he said.
Wounded: A security officer helps an injured woman away from the building
Relief: A woman who had been held hostage makes it out alive from the mall, where seven are still being held
Armed police arrived on the scene nearly half an hour later and could be heard shouting 'get out, get out' as scores of shoppers fled the building.
Smoke billowed out of the entrance, which was believed to have been caused by the grenade attack.
Dutch embassy employee Rob Vandijk said he had been eating at a restaurant in the shopping mall when gunmen threw hand grenades inside the building.
People began to scream and drop to the ground, he said, as machine gun fire rang out across the busy mall.
Officials have not given the exact death toll as police and gunmen are continuing to exchange fire, but reporters said they had seen at least 15 bodies.
Police say that attackers are holding seven hostages in the building, and other people remain hidden inside.
'I saw three of the attackers dressed in black and with covered faces and they were carrying heavy rifles,' said another witness.
Kenyan soldiers were also deployed to take part in the operation to bring the shopping complex back under control.
Fleeing: A child runs to safety across the shopping mall
Devastating: Injured people receive assistance from bypassers at the scene of the shooting
Hunt: Armed police search customers taking cover inside a bathroom at the shopping centre
Search: Police scour the centre with guns to try and locate the terrorists still holding hostages
Rescue: A woman is shipped to an ambulance in a shopping trolley by centre staff
Police helicopters circled over the building as sporadic gunfire could be heard more than two hours after the attack was launched.
Police cordoned off the roads surrounding the mall in central Nairobi's Westlands neighborhood.
Manish Turohit, 18, who escaped after hiding in the parking garage for two hours, says he saw gunmen with AK-47s and vests with hand grenades on them inside the centre.
Police initially believed the attack was an attempt by about ten armed men to rob a shop.
But Elijah Kamau, a witness, told AP that the gunmen had announced that they were targeting non-Muslims as they began their attack at the centre.
Children: A soldier carries one of the survivors to safety as armed police hunt for the gunmen
Safety: Shoppers and shop assistants raise their hands as they are escorted out by armed police
Distraught: A young girl is carried away from the scene as people search for their friends and relatives
Some of those who escaped were 'challenged to recite a Muslim prayer and were then let out', according to Allan Sayers, who contacted MailOnline and said he was in the Westgate mall five minutes before the attack.
Mr Sayers said people were still in text and phone contact with some of the hostages.
'There are still many hostages still inside and reports of many more dead,' he said.
Now Nairobi police chief Benson Kibue has said it was a terrorist attack and the Kenya Ministry of Interior has said the shooting may have been an 'attack by terrorists'.
'They don't seem like thugs, this is not a robbery incident,' said Yukeh Mannasseh who was on the top floor when the shooting started.
'It seems like an attack. The guards who saw them said they were shooting indiscriminately.'
Somali's rebel group al-Shabab vowed in late 2011 to carry out a large-scale attack in Nairobi in retaliation for Kenya's sending of troops into Somalia to fight the Islamic insurgents.
The Somali militant group al-Shabaab had earlier threatened to strike the mall, as it is a popular destination for the city's expatriate community.
However, no one has yet to claim responsibility for the assault.
One victim said that he had been shot by a man who appeared to be Somali, while others noted the gunmen were speaking in a foreign language.
Shootout: A police officer takes up position at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi
Escape: An injured man who managed to flee the attackers is treated by paramedics outside the shopping centre
Emergency: A Red Cross assistant helps a child outside who was among those caught in the shooting
'The gunmen tried to fire at my head but missed. There are definitely many casualties,' Sudjar Singh, who works at the shopping centre, told AFP.
'I saw three of the attackers dressed in black and with covered faces and they were carrying heavy rifles,' said another witness.
Errol Fernandes, a Kenyan businessman said: 'There were two guys – they came in from the car park on the roof. One had dreadlocks, he had an AK47 and was firing randomly.
'I just ran into the café kitchen and then we all hid in the refrigerator, until we were told to run out of the fire escape.
'I'm sure there must be many dead and injured.'
'The gunmen tried to fire at my head but missed. There are definitely many casualties,' Sudjar Singh, who works at the shopping centre, told AFP.
Gunfight: Police are still trying to escort people away from the site where fighting continues
Hostages: Police say armed men are still in the building and are holding prisoners
Shock: Witnesses said a half dozen grenades went off along with volleys of gunfire that started at midday
Stand-off: Soldiers are still searching in and around the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi after the supposed terrorist attack
'I saw three of the attackers dressed in black and with covered faces and they were carrying heavy rifles,' said another witness.
Kenyan soldiers were also deployed to take part in the operation to bring the shopping complex back under control.
Police helicopters circled over the building as sporadic gunfire could be heard more than two hours after the attack was launched.
Police cordoned off the roads surrounding the mall in central Nairobi's Westlands neighborhood.
Kenya's interior minister said the mall shooting may be "an attack by terrorists."
"It is a possibility that it is an attack by terrorists, so we are treating the matter very seriously," Mutea Iringo, the principal secretary in the Ministry of Interior told Reuters.
Asked if foreign security services were involved in the operation to flush out the attackers, he said, 'At this stage it has not become necessary yet.'
Rescue: A woman with her two children are helped from the mall as the fighting continues
The picture above prompted a woman to contact MailOnline, saying the woman with the two children is her sister-in-law.
'These aren't all nameless individuals, these are real people and don't me and my family know it today,' she said.
'What the picture doesn't show is the gun shot wound she has just come out of surgery for.
'Brave woman who I am so proud to call my family.'
Killings: At least 22 people are believed to be dead, according to the Kenya Red Cross
Victim: Rescuers attempt to evacuate a man injured in a shootout, among at least 50 wounded
Horror: Terrified and injured people poured out of the shopping centre over the course of an hour
An AFPTV reporter said police and security guards were trying to secure a multi-screen cinema complex inside the mall where many had taken shelter.
The reporter said she saw at least 20 people rescued from a toy shop on one of the upper floors of the building.
A shop manager who managed to escape said it had appeared 'the shooters had taken control of all the mall'.
Attacks by Somali Islamists in Kenya often involve gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades, with targets including bars, nightclubs and restaurants in various parts of the country.
There was a suspected al-Shabaab attack which left five dead and three injured at a restaurant in the eastern city of Garissa in January, and in August last year one person was killed and six more were left injured in the Eastleigh area of Nairobi on the eve of a visit by Hillary Clinton, then the United States secretary of state.
Terrorist: Reports suggest the attack may have been carried out by Al-Shabab members
Family mall: Customers who had planned a Saturday of shopping were forced to run following a shootout between unidentified armed men and the police
Last month 18 of the 19 US embassies and consulates across the Middle East and Africa were closed after a message between al Qaida officials about plans for a major terror attack was intercepted.
The Foreign Office says it is 'urgently looking into' the incident and has echoed Kenyan police with warnings to Britons to avoid the area.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said: 'We are in close contact with the Kenyan authorities on the ground in Kenya and at ministerial level in the United Kingdom.
'The prime consideration at present is the welfare of members of the public caught up in this incident.'
Concerned British nationals are advised to monitor FCO travel advice and to contact 020 7008 0000.
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Hiten A. Raja
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Hiten@HitenRaja.com
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