Kenya mall attack: Death toll rises to 68

Those are the grim numbers, more than a day after Islamist attackers stormed an upscale Nairobi mall on Saturday, spraying bullets and holding shoppers captive.The tense standoff continued into Sunday night, with sporadic gunfire heard through the day and at least one explosion.Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta told reporters Sunday afternoon the Kenyan people had showed resiliency as a nation and would triumph against the attackers.


The tragedy was also personal for Kenyatta; one of his nephews and his fiancee were among the dead."They shall not get away with their despicable, beastly acts. Like the cowardly perpetrators now cornered in the building, we will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully," Kenyatta said.Kenyan government and Western diplomatic sources said Al-Shabaab militants were holding about 30 hostages inside the shopping center. 

As grim-faced Kenyan soldiers warily searched the five-story building Sunday -- and as Al-Shabaab maintained its defiant stance -- the siege was no closer to a resolution.There are 10 to 15 gunmen involved, Kenyatta said.Sources within Al-Shabaab told CNN that nine names listed on a Twitter site -- now suspended -- were people who were among the alleged hostage-takers.

Three of the alleged attackers are from the United States, two are from Somalia and there is one each from Canada, Finland, Kenya and the United Kingdom, according to the list.

State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu told CNN's Zain Verjee that the gunmen were "isolated somewhere within the building."
Soldiers kept vigil outside the mall, guns dangling from their shoulders.

"We want to do everything possible, and the security people are doing everything possible to make sure we lose no more lives," Esipisu said.

The Kenyan Red Cross tweeted that nine bodies were recovered Sunday night, bringing the death toll to 68.

More than 175 were injured in the attack, Kenyatta said, offering his support to the wounded and relatives of the dead. He said that he and other Kenyan officials visited hospitals Sunday morning.

"No one should lose their life so needlessly, so senselessly and no family should have to receive news that their loved ones have been killed by a criminal bunch of cowards," he said.

It was the deadliest terror attack in Kenya since al Qaeda blew up the U.S. Embassy there in 1998, killing 213 people.

The attack Saturday targeted a popular weekend meeting spot. Kenyans and expatriates gather at the luxurious Westgate Shopping Mall on weekends to drink lattes, catch a movie or browse through the more than 80 stores.

Al-Shabaab, al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, claimed responsibility, and said it was not backing down. In a message on its Twitter feed, the group said "all Muslims" were escorted from the mall before the attack

"When justice is denied, it must be enforced," it said in a tweet Sunday. "Kenyans were relatively safe in their cities before they invaded us & killed Muslims #Westgate"

Since Kenya launched attacks against Al-Shabaab in Somalia in 2011, the group has hurled grenades at Kenyan churches, bus stops and other public places.

Last year, the Kenyan military played a major role in handing Al-Shabaab forces a defeat when as part of a peacekeeping mission, they liberated the key Somali port of Kismayo..