Islamists say still holding hostages in Kenya mall siege

Al-Qaeda linked Islamist militants said today they were still holding hostages as Kenyan troops battled for a fourth day to end the bloody siege at a Nairobi shopping centre.
Sporadic gunfire at the upmarket Westgate mall broke out again at dawn, hours after officials claimed Kenyan troops had wrested back "control" of the sprawling complex from Somalia's Shebab insurgents, who are said to include Americans and a British woman.
At least 62 shoppers and staff have been killed and close to 200 wounded in the siege, but concerns are high that the toll may yet rise, with the Shebab boasting about "countless number of dead bodies still scattered inside the mall".

The fate of 63 people listed as missing remains unclear.
"The hostages who were being held by the mujahedeen inside Westgate are still alive, looking quite disconcerted but, nevertheless, alive," the Shebab said on their latest Twitter account.
However, Kenyan officials have said all the hostages are believed to have been freed, with the interior ministry saying today that the assault was "very near the end".

Security sources said "one or two" militants were barricaded in or around a casino on one of the upper floors of the complex.
Shebab fighters stormed the crowded mall midday on Saturday, tossing grenades, firing automatic weapons and sending panicked shoppers fleeing.

Government spokesman Manoah Esipisu told AFP that special forces were "sanitising" the complex in case "there are a couple of them hiding in a remote room or corner".
"We think that everyone, the hostages, have been evacuated," Esipisu said, with security sources saying those freed were taken to a military hospital.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said several American nationals and a British woman dubbed by the media as the "White Widow" were among the fighters.
"We think that everyone, the hostages, have been evacuated," Esipisu said, with security sources saying those freed were taken to a military hospital.