Gunfire, explosions rock Kenyan Mall

Gunfire and explosions sounded on Monday from the Nairobi mall where militants from Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group threatened to kill hostages on the third day of a raid in which at least 68 have already died.
Reuters journalists near the up market Westgate complex heard sporadic shots and also heavy bursts of rifle fire and muffled blasts on at least two occasions after daybreak.
Kenyan troops moved around outside the building. A Kenyan Red Cross official, Abbas Guled, said there had been clashes inside the building.
But there was no indications of the fate of people whom the authorities had said on Sunday were being held by 10 to 15 gunmen – and possibly women inside a large supermarket.
An al Shabaab spokesman warned that the Islamists would kill hostages if Kenyan security forces, who were being assisted by Western and Israeli experts, tried to storm their position.
“Israelis and Kenyan forces have tried to enter Westgate by force but they could not,” Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage said in an audio statement posted online. “The mujahideen will kill the hostages if the enemies use force.”
Security forces had secured most of the complex by Sunday, freeing many people who had hidden in terror. Though they hoped for a quick solution, rescuing those held will be difficult.
Survivors’ tales of Saturday’s military-style lunchtime assault by squads of attackers hurling grenades and spraying automatic fire, has left little doubt the hostage-takers are willing to kill.