Two Indians among 59 killed in Kenya terror attack

Two Indians were among at least 59 people killed and nearly 200 injured as heavily armed Somali Islamist militants, holding about 30 hostages at an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, continued fierce fight with Kenyan soldiers for the second consecutive day today.
Four Indians, including two women and a girl, were injured in the brazen terror attack by Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab group as Israeli forces reportedly joined Kenyan soldiers today in their bloody battle to wrest control of the part Israeli-owned Westgate centre.
There were conflicting reports about the number of militants with a minister saying there were 10 to 15 heavily armed men while some of the witnesses said they had seen four men in black, their heads covered in scarves.

Kenyan government and Western diplomatic sources said the militants were holding about 30 hostages inside the mall. Helicopters were seen circling overhead and there was a heavy military presence both in and around the mall.
As the gunfire continued, troops have managed to evacuate over 1,000 people from the centre after the masked militants launched the deadliest assault since Al Qaeda militants bombed the US Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, killing over 200 people.
"We still have hostages in the mall, and this makes the operation delicate. We have 59 people who have been killed so far," Kenya's interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku said.

Nearly 200 people were left wounded in the attack, while Lenku said 175 people had been taken to hospital.

Two Indians, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed and four other community members injured in the attack, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said in New Delhi.
The dead Indians have been identified as 40-year-old Sridhar Natarajan, employee of a local pharmaceutical firm and Master Paramshu Jain, son of a manager of the local Bank of Baroda branch.
The injured Indians are Sridhar Natarajan's wife Manjula Sridhar, Paramshu Jain's mother Mukta Jain and 12-year-old Poorvi Jain and Natarajan Ramachandran, an employee of Flamingo Duty Free, Nairobi.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today condemned the attack in a letter to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and said "concerted global effort is required to control such mindless violence."
He directed the External Affairs Ministry to extend all help to Indian nationals who were victims of the attack at a mall in the Kenyan capital.
There are two Canadians, two French citizens, a South Korean and a Chinese among the foreign casualties.