Kenyan security forces have launched an assault on the Westgate shopping complex in the capital Nairobi in an attempt to break the two-day siege.
Heavy gunfire can be heard and there were earlier reports of explosions at the complex. A plume of black smoke is billowing from the building.
A Kenyan police official said that security forces had rescued some hostages held by the attackers.
The official death toll now stands at 62 and more than 170 have been injured.
The Somali al-Shabab movement has said it carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenyan military operations in Somalia.
The BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse, who is at the scene, reported sustained gunfire.
Dozens of Kenyan troops were seen crossing the road into the Westgate centre, said Daniel Howden, a journalist for the British newspaper, the Independent.
Meanwhile, the police have used tear gas to disperse crowds of onlookers gathered close to the Westgate Centre.
The Interior Ministry said in a tweet: “We are pleading with you, #WestGateMall is a scene of crime. For your own safety keep off that area. Roads leading there have been cordoned.”
‘Gaining advantage’
The earlier round of gunfire and explosions appeared to be a dramatic turn of events in the security forces’ operation, , the BBC’s Mike Wooldridge reported from Nairobi.
Television pictures showed troops running towards the complex. About 10 attackers were thought to be inside.
“We’re increasingly gaining advantage of the attackers,” inspector general of Kenyan police David Kimaiyo said in a tweet.
It is not clear as yet what caused the blasts, or what impact they are having on the operation to rescue hostages taken by the militants, our correspondent reports.
Speaking earlier, Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said that the fire at the building was started by the “terrorists”.
Two of the attackers were killed this morning, and others injured, he said.
“I work 400m away and I can see heavy black smoke,” local resident Eric Onchangu told the BBC.
“I can see a helicopter and we know there are lots of KDF [security forces] in the area – we have been warned to stay indoors as it’s so dangerous,” he added.
By Sunday night, Kenyan security forces said they secured most of the shopping centre and that only a small number of hostages remained under the militants’ control.
Repeated threats
More than 1,000 people were inside the mall complex when the attack began on Saturday.
Dr Sunil Sachdeva, a dentist who runs a clinic inside the mall, described the scene as the attack unfolded.
“There was a tent where a cookery competition for children was carrying on and there were bodies lying under there,” Dr Sachdeva said.
“There’s a very famous radio presenter in Kenya, she was shot. The scene was carnage and there was a guy lying right in the corner. He was cut to shreds.”
Prominent Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor – who was attending a literary festival in Nairobi – also died, as did a Chinese woman.
French, Dutch, South African, Indian and Canadian nationals are also among the foreigners confirmed killed, along with a dual Australian-British national.
Thousands of Kenyans have been responding to appeals for blood donations.
Al-Shabab says it carried out the attack in response to Kenyan military operations in Somalia.
The group, which is part of the al-Qaeda network, has repeatedly threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of Somalia.
There are about 4,000 Kenyan troops in the south of Somalia, where they have been fighting the militants since 2011, as part of an African Union force supporting Somali government forces.
Al-Shabab is fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia.
Despite being pushed out of key cities in the past two years, it still remains in control of smaller towns and large swathes of the countryside.
BBC
