Two linked to mall attack arrested

Police were on Monday holding two suspects as security units worked to save dozens of hostages still held at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi.

Police sources said that two men were arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and were being interrogated in line with the terrorist attack in the shopping mall.

As the security operation by seven agencies entered its third day on Monday, the government reduced the number of deaths to 62 from the 69 previously announced. The number of those injured stands at 175, in the worst terrorist attack since 1998.

However, police at the scene of the attack, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, told the Nation that 49 people were still unaccounted for, while an estimated 15 bodies were retrieved from the mall on Monday. This could raise the death toll.

High placed sources within the police service indicated that they were hunting for a woman suspected to have led the attack, and is believed to have escaped less than an hour after the Saturday mid-day raid.

The woman, a foreigner linked to Al-Shabaab, has been mentioned by some survivors as having been the leader of the terror gang.

Unconfirmed reports said although the Somali-based terrorist group had claimed responsibility, security agents believe actual executors of the blood-bath were members of a radical terror group from Yemen.

There was sporadic gunfire and explosions at intervals during the day with plumes of smoke from the building as the Kenyan forces stormed the building to rescue those hiding or still held. A few minutes past 4pm, there was more gunfire with sources saying it was an indication of an advance by the military.

Shortly, fire engines drove to the mall under heavy security probably in an attempt to put out the fire caused by the explosions.

The Nation could not verify who was responsible for the explosions.