Islamist militants were holding hostages on Sunday at a
shopping mall in Nairobi, where at least 68 people were killed in an
attack by Somalia's al Shabaab group.
The
al Qaeda-affiliated movement demanded Kenya pull troops out of its
northern neighbour, where they have pushed al Shabaab onto the defensive
over the past two years.
There was no word of other demands from
the dozen or so gunmen - and possibly women - said to be barricaded in a
supermarket with an unknown number of captives. One Kenyan TV station
said 30 were still being held, nearly 36 hours after Saturday's
devastating assault.
Brief volleys of gunfire and a blast
interrupted a day of stalemate. A Reuters correspondent saw security
personnel on the move and, as dusk closed in, two helicopters swooped
low over the Westgate shopping centre, which has several Israeli-owned
outlets and is frequented by prosperous Kenyans and foreigners.
But
despite a Twitter comment from a Kenyan security agency suggesting an
imminent operation, the evening
passed with little sign of action.
Kenya's
president, vowing not to abandon the "war on terror" in Somalia, was
cautious about the outcome, saying only that the chances of the
attackers being "neutralised" were "as good ... as we can hope for".
"We
will punish the masterminds swiftly and painfully," he said. In
addition to the dead, more than 175 people were wounded in an attack
that began around the middle of the day on Saturday, when the mall was
heaving with customers.
