30 killed in Kenya mall attack

Nairobi, Sep 22 (IANS/EFE) At least 30 people were killed and 50 wounded here Saturday during an attack on an upscale shopping centre by a group of armed men, the Kenyan Red Cross said.

At the time the attack erupted, numerous children were believed to be inside the mall taking part in a youth cooking workshop.

Al Shabab, the Somali-based Islamic militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack through microblogging site Twitter. But the attackers were still holing up inside the building with an undetermined number of hostages.

The group claimed its gunmen had killed "more than 100" people inside the shopping centre thus far in retaliation for the Kenyan military's participation in the UN mission in Somalia.

Kenya's armed forces are backing the Somali government against Islamist militias such as Al Shabab.

The attack apparently began Saturday morning when a group of Arab-speaking armed men entered the packed mall and opened indiscriminate firing on anyone unable to respond in their language.

Red Cross workers said, for their part, that some of those killed had been shot in the head and one person had been decapitated, information that was confirmed by other sources.

Army troops were dispatched to the shopping centre to subdue the attackers - whose number is unknown - and free the employees and customers who were still inside.

Earlier, Presidential spokesperson Manoah Esipisu said the State House was not taking the incident as a terrorist attack.

"It's too early to tell if it's a terrorist attack. It's also too early to know motive but a forensic probe is underway," Esipisu said.

Westgate mall is located in one of the most upscale areas of Nairobi and is frequented by that city's Western expatriate community.