NAIROBI (Xinhua) - A bloody attack by gunmen on a upscale mall in the Kenyan capital on Saturday killed at least 39 people, making it the deadliest terror attack in the east African country since the US embassy bombings in 1998, according to the Kenyan government.
"They have killed at least 39 innocent people and injured more than 150 others. With the entire nation, I stand with the families of those who have lost their lives and extend every Kenyan's deepest condolences," Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a televised speech.
Witnesses said gunshots were still heard at the mall and another group of Kenyan soldiers rushed into it as of 2: 37 a.m. local time on Sunday (2337 GMT Saturday), some 16 hours after the gunmen launched the attack.
Kenyan police said they were holding a suspect in connection to the attack. Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo said the suspect, believed to have been involved in the attack, was escorted to hospital by police in an operation carried out by a contingent of police officers who had surrounded the mall. The male suspect sustained bullet wounds.
"We have detained the Westgate mall attack suspect in hospital," Kimaiyo told a news conference.
A group of gunmen launched the attack on the luxurious Westgate mall at around 10:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) Saturday, when a number of foreign visitors and local people were entering the mall for shopping.
The mall consists of five floors and more than 80 shops as well as a Nakumatt supermarket, according to police.
Some witnesses said they first thought it was a robbery after they heard explosions and gunshots.
A witness who did not give his name told Xinhua that he heard explosions and saw masked gunmen before he hid in a men's room. He said the gunmen were speaking the language that he did not understand.
Another anonymous witness said the gunmen shot dead the security guards and then opened fire shop by shop.
"Some of the workers and shoppers who attempted to escape were shot and died instantly," said David Muthee, who escaped from the mall.
Some of the injured attempted to jump from the second floor to the first floor and then tried to run to the exit area, but they could not make it, he added.
Workers at the shopping mall said the hooded gunmen, numbering around 10, attacked the building from the second floor, where there was a media event. Some gunmen were armed with sophisticated weapons and shot indiscriminately while ordering people to lie on the ground.
The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) Secretary General Abbas Gullet told Xinhua earlier that rescue operation was still underway, expressing fears that there would be more casualties as some of the shoppers were still holed up in the mall.
However, Kenya's interior ministry was not sure whether there were hostages inside the mall.
Somalia's militant group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in its twitter account "HSM Press Office" that "The Mujahideen entered Westgate Mall today at around noon and are still inside the mall, fighting the Kenyan Kuffar inside their own turf."
TERROR ATTACK
The group said the latest attack is "retributive justice for crimes" committed by Kenya's military, and "now it's time to shift the battleground and take the war to their land."
Kenya has seen repeated terror attacks since October 2011, when the Kenya Defense Forces launched a cross-border incursion into southern Somalia in pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants.
The militants had kidnapped several foreigners on the Kenyan side of the border, posing a serious threat to the country's pillar industry of tourism.
The group said the message sent to the Kenyan government and public "is and has always been just one: remove all your forces from our country."
It is not the first time the al Qaida-linked militant group Al-Shabaab has launched attacks within Kenya.
Dozens of bombs and grenade attacks have killed a handful and injured many in Kenya's capital of Nairobi, coastal resort Mombasa, and the northern area bordering Somalia in the past couple of years.
Gunmen launched grenade attacks in Nairobi on Oct. 24, 2011, killing one person and wounding more than 30.
Two grenades exploded on Nov. 24, 2011 in the eastern Kenyan town of Garissa near the border with Somalia, killing three people and injuring 27.
Nine people died and around 60 were injured in a grenade attack on a Nairobi bus terminal on March 10, 2012.
The deadliest terror attack within Kenya was the bombings on the US embassy on Aug. 7, 1998, which killed 213 and wounded around 5,000.
INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION
The international community has strongly condemned the attack.
So far, the exact number of foreigners and local people killed in the mall attack remains unknown.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that two Canadians, including a diplomat, were among the 39 people killed in the shooting.
"Canada condemns in the strongest possible terms this cowardly, hateful act that apparently targeted innocent civilians who were simply out shopping," Harper said in a statement.
"Terrorist attacks like this seek to undermine the very values and way of life that Canadians cherish, and they reinforce the need for us to continue taking strong actions to protect the safety of Canadians no matter where they are in the world," he said.
According to the US Embassy in Nairobi, US citizens are among the injured. "We have reports of American citizens injured in the attack, and the US Embassy is actively reaching out to provide assistance."
"We condemn this senseless act of violence that has resulted in death and injury for many innocent men, women, and children. Our condolences go out to the families and friends of all victims," said a statement issued by the US embassy.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "is following closely and with alarm the attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi," according to a statement issued by the world body.
The statement said Ban has spoken to President Kenyatta and expressed his concern as well as offered his solidarity as the Kenyan authorities were handling the incident.
The Chinese Embassy in Nairobi said that preliminary findings showed that there were no Chinese casualties in the attack.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague also expressed concern over the attack, saying in a statement that he was "appalled by the attack."